The Other Malfoy
by Disneyfanatic-kitty
Summary: Ever since the events in HPCC, Harry had felt ashamed of the prejudices he had shown against poor Scorpius Malfoy. Determined to improve his relationship with Albus, he realised he owed Scorpius his thanks and apology, so he tried to take initiatives to make amends to the Malfoys, especially Scorpius. Books and HPCC-compliant. Harry/Scorpius, H/Albus, H/Draco (friendship only)story
1. Progress

As Harry Potter stood on Platform 9¾ next to Draco Malfoy, waiting for the Hogwarts Express to pull in at the beginning of the winter break, he could not help reflecting on the past four months that had brought such dramatic and drastic changes to his life.

It had only been mere months ago that he had said those fateful words to his own son, _Well, there are times I wish you weren't my son_ , the words that had brought such claustrophobic consequences to not only his relationship with Albus, but also to the entire world. Not a day had gone by in which he had not felt regret for these impulsive words he had said, but as he had said to Albus on their day out to visit Cedric's grave, he could not ask his boy to forget it, the only thing he could do was to hope that they could move past it.

Harry noted to himself about how good things had been since that afternoon. He had been writing letters to Albus himself, without Ginny's input, since the night at Godric's Hollow, something he had not done since Albus' first year. He would rack his brain for the safest thing to write, trying the hardest to avoid anything that would irritate his boy, anything he had famously done, any comparison of Albus' Hogwarts' life to his own, anything about his own tragic childhood, anything about Gryffindor and Slytherin. He had tried to keep things simple and short in the beginning, but was able to write longer and freer gradually. In times, he realised that the magical ingredient was Scorpius Malfoy. A letter was bound to be better received if he tried to show a genuine interest and care to the young Malfoy heir. He could still remember every word in his first letter as he had spent half a day and rolls of parchments to word it the most appropriate way he could, mere days after Albus had returned to Hogwarts after Godric's Hollow.

 _"Dear Albus,_

 _How are you? I hope you are recovering well from the injuries you have suffered. I want to say thank you for staying by my side that night after returning home. Words cannot express how much you being there meant to me after witnessing what we had witnessed. I am extremely proud of you, for the bravery and intelligence you have shown that night, you have saved me and the world that night. You should be proud of yourself as well. I love you, my son, but please never put yourself in dangers like this again._

 _How is Scorpius doing? He seemed to have experienced a fair share of trauma from this incident as well. Please say thanks to him for me._

 _Love,_

 _Dad"_

Harry had not have much expectations when he had sent this letter out, the best he could have hoped for was a line or two from Albus to acknowledge that he had received the letter, so he could not have been more surprised when his son had made a big confession to him in his reply.

 _"Dad,_

 _You're welcome. Are you feeling better? Thanks for your compliments I guess, but I do not deserve them. Professor Mcgonagall is keeping an close eye on us both so it's not like we can get into troubles even if we want. Scorpius seems to be doing fine but"_

There were some crossed words that Harry could not make out after and the whole parchment had been torn off right below. The letter was continued on another piece of parchment.

 _"Scorpius was tortured by the Cruciatus Curse that night and if any permanent harm had been caused because of that, it would be my fault. I have been such a terrible friend to poor Scorpius._

 _Albus"_

Harry had suspected that Delphi had used the Unforgivable curses on the boys but it had been even more upsetting to have his suspicions confirmed. But as Harry considered the way Albus had worded it, it had appeared that Albus himself had not been tortured, which should have been a relief but was in a way even worse than Albus being the one who had been tortured. Albus had obviously been feeling very guilty about this which meant that Delphi had likely tortured Scorpius to force Albus to do what she had wanted. Harry could actually understand why Albus would choose to confide with himself, since there was nobody in the entire world who understood guilt as well as Harry Potter, given the number of people who had died for him, and the number of people who had died, suffered or been tortured in connection to him. While he would never be able to forget the deaths of all the friends he had known, the deaths of his parents, Cedric, Sirius, Moody and Dobby had been different in ways as he would always believe that they had died _because_ of him, the same way that George had lost an ear and Hermione had been tortured because of him. For twenty years he had tried to carry on with his life shouldering the burden of all these deaths and sufferings. There had been many times that he had wished that he had died instead of them. The burden of being accountable for his friends' deaths and sufferings was so heavy that he had wished that his children would never have to understand. Unfortunately, it had apparently been too late for Albus.

Also, by the end of Albus and Scorpius' adventures with the Time Turner, it had been obvious that if one friend had been a bad influence on the other, it was Albus, not Scorpius. Despite Scorpius' insistence that he shared equal blame as Albus because he had wanted to join Albus and Albus had not forced him to go, it was obviously Albus' faults that Scorpius had gone on this adventures and had put himself at risks, thus Harry's fault as he had driven Albus away at the first place. The days in which he had been able to do so little to recover the lost boys had been terrible enough for Harry, he could not imagine how much more terrible they had been for Malfoy.

He remembered Draco's words in his office ,... _it was exceptionally lonely, being Draco Malfoy_. While Harry had been suffering at the time, he still had the support of his wife, two children, his extended family, two capable and supportive best friends, his many other friends and the whole Auror department which had been doing its best to assist in his searches. During all of this, Draco had been all alone in the Malfoy Manor, with absolutely no support network, dreading that his only family would probably be lost from him forever. Despite the history he had shared with his former nemesis, Draco Malfoy had been simply a grieving husband and frightened father at that moment. Scorpius was Draco's everything. He had not hesitated at all to give up his priceless Time Turner, knowing it had been their only hope to recover their sons, even though it could have cost Draco his freedom. Albus felt guilty that Scorpius had been tortured but reading the letter, Harry could not help feeling guilty that Scorpius had been tortured, that he himself had caused such terrible sufferings to Draco and his son because of the immature words he had said. How would he be able to bring himself to face Draco if any permanent harm had been done to Scorpius?

It had been very difficult to reply to such a letter, especially when his stubborn boy had shown such a remarkable proof of trust to reveal that detail of Scorpius' torture. He understood that Albus had been convinced that it had been his fault that his best friend had been tortured and there would be nothing Harry could have written that would be able to convince Albus otherwise. Instead of trying to talk his son off of his guilt, he had acknowledged how inevitable that he would feel responsible and encouraged him to keep an eye on his best friend. He had advised Albus to look out for nightmares, tempers and mental breakdown and to just stay by Scorpius' side. Understanding more about the traumas they had experienced, Harry had sent a few bars of chocolate to Albus and Scorpius to cheer them up, which had caused his reply to be even better received than he had hoped, despite a reply that told him Draco had already sent a few luxurious boxes of chocolates to them. It had been the sentiments that mattered after all. Things had gotten better in terms of their communication as Albus had become more confident that Scorpius had not suffered any long-term effects from his tortures. The themes of their letters had gotten lighter and more casual, Albus had even tried to reproduce a bad joke of Scorpius in his last letter.

But then there was the matter of Draco, he deserved to know that his only son had been tortured. The more Harry got to know about Scorpius from Albus, the more he appeared to be someone who would hide his sufferings and put on a brave smile for the sake of his loved ones. Harry had no idea whether Scorpius had told his father that he had been tortured but it was not like he could ask Albus for that information. Also, to tell Draco that behind the boys' backs would betray Albus' trust, which was the last thing he would ever wanted. The worst thing about this dilemma was that, there was no possible way he could tell Draco that would make Albus appear blameless. Although Draco seemed to appreciate Albus' presence in Scorpius' life, there was no telling how this information would affect the way he see Albus. Having made the terrible mistake of separating the best friends once, Harry was resolved that he would never allow himself to be the cause of damage in the friendship between the boys ever again.

He had considered owling Draco to tell him this information but no matter how he wrote, it seemed very wrong. _Hello Malfoy, How are you doing? I just think you deserve to know that Scorpius has been tortured by Delphi. Potter_. As the days rolled by, the boys were due to come home for Christmas and Harry had yet to tell Draco. He realised that it would perhaps be better for him to approach Draco and to tell him in person on the platform as he would be able to ease him into that, or he could at least test the waters and make sure that Scorpius was okay first, so there he was.

It was actually very lucky that the boys were allowed to spend winter break at home at all. In light of the discovery of Delphi Riddle's involvements and manipulations in the boys' attempts in meddling with time, their witness of Craig Bowker Jr's death and the sufferings and traumas they had endured in the hands of Delphi, Professor Mcgonagall had significantly reduced their punishments to just three detentions and a ban of two Hogsmeade visits. Harry himself was very grateful for this timely winter break that he could use to mend his relationship with Albus, following the little successes he had so far with the letters.

* * *

A/N:This is only my third fanfic and originally, I was going to write a sequel to one of my previous stories, "Scorpius' Letter", which followed the Draco/Scorpius/ (Astoria) relationship, intending to explore the dynamic between Draco/Albus in the new story. It was during my planning that I realised I could even write a nice companion piece to that sequel focusing on Harry/Scorpius dynamic, as like D/S and D/A, we barely got to see anything from this perspective in the script. Something that bugged me a lot while reading HPCC was that of all people, Harry really should have known better than being prejudiced against poor Scorpius, it felt to me that even after Scorpius had saved the day, Harry didn't do anything to acknowledge his mistakes and cruelty to the boy, which just struck me as very wrong.

As I was having a hard time beginning to write my sequel, I felt myself getting compelled to write this "companion story" more than the original story, so here I am. I still want to write the sequel but it will definitely take me a long time.

I intend for this story to happen to the same version of these characters from my previous stories, even though there won't be much connection here to them. Please check out my other stories if you are interested.

 **I reply to all signed comments, I'm putting this here to try to let more people to see. Please review because I would really love to know more about what you think and to chat with you more(if you like).**


	2. On the Platform

The Hogwarts Express was known for its punctuality so Harry did not arrive too early to the platform despite wanting to talk to Draco Malfoy, believing that Draco would not enjoy the sour looks and whisperings he would inevitably receive wherever he go longer than necessary. On this Sunday, five days before Christmas, Harry and Ginny passed through the gate to the platform at 4:10pm, twenty minutes before the train was due to arrive. Having explained his intentions to talk to Malfoy with Ginny, she calmly kept her pace with him while he marched down the full length of the platform, scanning the crowd for the white-blonde ponytail of Draco Malfoy. To his disappointment, he had not arrived yet, while the Saviour's agitated behaviour had immediately drawn the attentions of the majority of anxious families who were waiting to pick up their children, further agitating him.

He felt himself relaxed as he was joined by his best friends on the platform. As important as Hermione's job was, she always managed to take times off for her family, he would never stop admiring his best friend's organisational and time-management skills. He noticed the rest of the Weasley clan clustering somewhere behind them.

"Hello Harry, you don't look too well. Are you feeling nervous for Albus' return?" The Minister for Magic asked after giving him a quick hug.

"What?" Things with Albus had been going surprisingly well that he was genuinely surprised by his friend's concern. "No...no. Actually, I'm looking for Malfoy. There is something I would like to talk to him."

Hermione looked somewhat surprised but understanding. Ron, however, looked affronted. "What? You haven't even greeted your best mate yet and here you are, looking for the ferret? Don't tell me he has suddenly become your best …" He shut up the moment he noticed the uniform glares given to him by both Ginny and Hermione.

Even though he knew he had done absolutely nothing wrong, Harry instinctively looked down guiltily as he explained, "Well, it's just that there's something about Scorpius that Draco has every right to know…" It was somewhat weird for Harry to be saying Malfoy's first name out loud and he would not be surprised if Ron would take offense with that but even though he was used to referring to Scorpius by his first name, it would still be confusing to use Scorpius and Malfoy in the same sentence to refer to the two different Malfoys respectively.

"Harry, I think you are doing a good thing. Just Ignore Ron." Hermione patted him in the back as she said reassuringly.

He was about to make some awkward response when Ginny nudged him urgently and pointed him to the opposite direction, where Draco Malfoy was walking stiffly towards the platform. He was not sure if it was a dress suit he was wearing or just an everyday suit that looked ridiculously fancy. At least it was in dark green instead of black, it appeared that Malfoy had finally done mourning.

Harry felt a knot in his stomach as he debated how he should approach the widower. After Godric's Hollow, it had appeared as if they had finally become friends after all these years but they were not united in crisis right now, and there had been too complicated a history between them for him to just casually walk up to say hello. He waited for Malfoy to meet his eyes to decide.

Feeling Harry's glance, Draco turned his head slightly towards his direction. He seemed kind of surprised to find Harry appear to be expecting him, but then he curtly nodded at him without a smile, a greeting not much different from the ones they had shared the past three years, then returned back on course to the front of the platform. He ended up standing about twenty feet away from them, determinedly trying to ignore all the bitter looks and "Death Eater" talks.

Harry felt unexpectedly disappointed. It was not like he expected them to be best friends now, but he had honestly believed that something had changed between them since Malfoy had opened up to Harry about Astoria and the Malfoys had joined the Potters in witnessing Harry's parents' murder. Another part of him did understand that even if they were friends, Draco Malfoy probably would not want to be seen openly approaching the Potters and the Weasleys. Remembering his purpose and feeling Ginny's encouraging nudge toward Malfoy's direction, Harry took a deep breath then walked over to Draco with Ginny. Hermione walked over after a few seconds as well, followed by a very reluctant and grumpy Ron Weasley.

Draco did not turn at all until Harry had reached his side, he said with a faint smirk, "Well, how may I help you, Mr Harry Potter?"

Harry sighed, why did Draco have to make everything so difficult? At least it could have been worse, Malfoy had finally stopped emphasising his "Potter" every time he pronounced his name, that had to be considered an improvement after thirty years. "Good afternoon to you too, Malfoy. I just want to check with you to see how Scorpius has been doing since G… well, since that night."

The smirk was gone immediately from the pale face, replaced by a concerned stare. Draco narrowed his eyes suspiciously and asked, "Why would you suddenly be so interested in my son's well being? Do you know anything I ought to know?"

Harry wanted to kick himself inside, he was terrible at making small talks and presently, he could feel his cheeks warming from nervousness, guiltiness and embarrassment. "No… it's just… It was my fault that Albus has run away and dragged Scorpius into any of this. I have never properly apologised to you about that, and if anything had happened to Scorpius…" Harry could not bring himself to finish, relating the sufferings he had experienced when Albus had been lost to Draco's, he could only blame himself but as far as he knew, Draco had been an excellent father to Scorpius and had deserved none of that.

Draco seemed to relax as he turned to Ginny and spoke with a straight face, "Well, Mrs Potter, I imagine you have a very difficult job in convincing _the_ Saviour that the world does not revolve around him, good luck." He gave a barely detectable smile which Ginny returned more openly before turning back to Harry. "As for you, Mr Potter. I appreciate your concern. I can assure you that Scorpius has never been happier than he has been for the past two months. But I do want to say that, as his father, I am not delusional and blind. You may be indirectly responsible but it could not be said to be your fault. I am completely aware of Scorpius' mistakes in this whole affair. Given the … rumour, I have always taught him to see safety as his highest priority. It may have been your son's fault, but Scorpius has been very reckless in his own right. I have already reprimanded him for his reckless behaviours." Harry could not help feeling terrible for the poor boy who had already been through so much, he did not even want to know what "reprimand" entailed for Draco Malfoy.

"Also, technically, it was partially my son's fault that Albus was lost along with him the third time. He did have the best intentions, and… _no offense to you and to the Minister_ " He gave Hermione a look before turning back to Harry, but ignored Ron's glare, "he was justified in distrusting the Ministry with _it_ , (he was obviously being discreet in referring to the Time Turner for fear of being overheard) but Scorpius really should have known better to turn it in when he could."

Harry had known that Draco Malfoy had changed for years, but never had his glaring difference in personality and maturity been displayed in such plain view to him before. This Draco might still be reserved and distant, but he was sensible, wise and understanding, not to mention brave, determined and was a devoted and loving father, given how he had volunteered to join their rescue mission. His outward appearance might have looked very much similar, but his inside could not have been more different from his ignorant, self-absorbed, bullying younger self. Hermione had a very serious look on her face, no doubt thinking about her failures in the Time Turner disaster, while Ron might have looked displeased, he seemed to be able to see the sense behind Draco's words.

"That being said," everyone looked up to Draco's words, having thought that he had finished, "I can totally see where Scorpius was coming from at the time. I would likely have followed Albus and made the same mistakes if I were him as well." Draco gave a meaningful look from Harry to Ron and Hermione, who were both looking rather stunned and confused. Harry could still hear Draco's words in his kitchen, _I envied you those friendships more than anything else_ , he could tell instinctively that what he meant was that he would have abandoned everything to join his best friend on a time traveling adventure at their boys' age had he shared this kind of friendship with someone as well. Harry tried to look away and coughed, it was embarrassing that he was the one feeling naked with his thoughts when Draco was the one baring his deeper desires to them.

"You okay, Harry?" Ginny looked sideway to him with a slight frown. Looking at her, he could tell that Ginny had understood Draco's words as well, she was perhaps imagining how it would have been for her to have such a best friend as well. Harry gave a half-hearted nod when he turned to see that Draco was looking at him amusedly.

There was a minute of awkward silence when nobody quite knew what to say. Fortunately, the silence was broken by the noise of the train engine, they had been too absorbed in their conversations to notice that the train was almost there. Seemingly having reached an unspoken agreement that it would be easier for them not to resume the conversation, the Potters and Malfoy stood together in companionable silence with the Granger-Weasleys talking between themselves nearby, oblivious to all the pointed looks and whisperings around them, waiting to pick up their sons after what had felt like the longest school term in their entire lives.

* * *

A/N: One of the things I have wondered ever since reading the script is what the Potters, Draco and the Weasleys remembered from the period of time between first time travel and second time travel after the alternate realities have been reversed. I am aware that Harry might have done things differently and the interactions between Harry and Draco might have been altered as well, but since it's implied that he had already been worrying about the dark cloud right before the first time travel, I have decided to keep things simple to assume that Harry experienced most of his interactions in the first alternate reality in the real world as well.


	3. The Children's Return

For the past three years, it had become somewhat a routine that the other Potter children, along with all of the Weasley students, would hop off the train within minute after the Hogwarts Express had pulled in. While Harry would be busy greeting James (and later Lily as well), then all the Weasleys, both the Potter and the Malfoy parents would be silently and anxiously scanning the crowd for their Slytherin boys. Harry could vividly remember asking James to go back up to check on his brother during Albus' first return home for Christmas. It had been a shame that they simply would not get off the train until the majority of the crowd had dispersed, at least minutes after the third last person had gotten off, as they would have been so easily distinguishable with Albus' jet black hair and Scorpius' platinum blonde hair. At least the Potters had plenty of distractions, Draco was not so lucky, especially after his wife's death, but he loved his boy too much to not show up on the platform punctually. Harry was expecting the same old routine all over again this afternoon.

As expected, James, Lily, as well as most of the Weasleys, rushed off the train immediately after the train doors had opened, but with one certain exception, Rose Granger-Weasley. Having gotten used to greeting his daughter so soon, Ron found himself anxiously waiting for the first time while half-heartedly hugging Hugo. The Potters and Draco, however, just casually and patiently waited for their sons.

As more and more students had left the train, Ron was looking more and more uneasy even though Hermione was not particularly bothered by it. Harry very much doubted anything could have happened to his niece but it was indeed curious for Rose to appear so late. They were about to question Hugo when a very confident but casual-looking Rose emerged, seemingly being one of the last students to leave the train, followed immediately by a laughing Albus, who was urging a bashful but smiling Scorpius out. Harry could feel his heart warming to the sight of a happy Albus, he stole a quick glance sideway to see that Draco's entire demeanour had softened at the sight of his boy as well.

A fidgety Ron rushed forward to meet his daughter halfway. "My dear Rose, what has taken you so long? I'm starting to worry"

"Oh, I was just sitting with Albus and Bread Head at the last compartment, that's all." Rose said dismissively, completely oblivious to the nervous look given to her by her father. Presently Albus was being enveloped by Ginny, after sharing a brief but heartfelt greeting with Harry, he looked embarrassed to be hugged so tightly by his mother but was not repelled. Scorpius had timidly walked up to Draco, who opened his arms to receive his son, albeit _very_ stiffly. After being released from his father, the young Slytherin backed up a bit awkwardly in front of his own trunk.

Draco was resigned but not angry when he asked, "Scorpius, did someone wrote something on your trunk again?"

Scorpius' smile disappeared, he looked down and kept his silence for a whole minute. "Well…" The previous contentment seemed to have left Draco as he looked a bit sadly at his son, his arm awkwardly reaching for Scorpius'. Harry did not want to intrude but they were all standing so close that to move away now would have been more distracting. He was stunned and confused to see a barely-suppressed smile on his own son's face though.

A moment later, Scorpius looked up, his face lighted up as if he had just received an early Christmas present, "actually, No! Dad, my trunk is completely clean and good as new! How great is that?"

It sounded ridiculous that an innocent fourteen-year-old could find not having his trunk been vandalised a cause of celebration, but Harry was immediately saddened by Scorpius exclamation of delight, saddened by the implication that his trunk basically got vandalised every time, a sadness that seemed to be shared by Ginny and Hermione as well. Harry noticed that even Ron looked uncomfortable. His own previous guiltiness towards Scorpius resurfaced as he thought over how unfair and cruel he had been in suspecting _him_ to be the dark cloud.

Draco relaxed and said gently, "Well… that is good news." Harry could not help feeling surprised that it had appeared that Draco had just dejectedly accepted his heir's bullying by the other students, which was such a sharp contrast from the way Lucius had handled any "injustice" shown to his son. Harry thought that sure it might not be a good idea for Draco to interfere too much given Scorpius would have to fend for himself (not really, given he had the hotheaded Albus as well) for the most part, but there must have been at least some interference he could exercise, if his trunk being vandalised was a regular occurrence.

"Yeah, two boys have tried to sneak by but they were told off by Rose, then there was this one who actually managed to reach the trunk, before being hexed by her! It's so awesome!" Scorpius continued, completely unaware of all the adults' uneasiness.

Draco looked at his son fondly, then turned stiffly towards Rose, he said in a voice free of any irony, "Thank you for defending my son, Miss Granger-Weasley." Harry could see Ron's jaw drop to the floor.

Rose answered easily with a toss of her hair, "It's fine, Mr Malfoy. Bread… hmm Malfoy may be kind of weird but he really doesn't deserve to be bullied." As if the adults could not have felt more uncomfortable, Rose's blunt use of the word "bully" did nothing to loosen up the atmosphere. "Besides, those boys should _really_ grow up!"

Harry could see Ron trying and completely failing to mask his nervousness and concern as he asked, "So, my darling Rose, you and Scorpius are friends now, huh?" Hermione definitely looked ashamed in Ron's behalf as she shoved him rather openly. "What?"

Rose was of course, not stupid at all. "Don't worry, dad. We're just regular friends. Albus doesn't really give me any choice there. The two of them are inseparable, so if I want to hang out with _my_ cousin, I have to hang out with Bread H… I mean Scorpius as well." She had the grace to try to avoid Draco's look after her repeated uses of that … interesting nickname of Scorpius. Scorpius was beaming widely while Albus actually looked at Rose with a fond smile.

It was about time to go, Harry thought he should greet his son's best friend as well before they left for winter break. Harry discreetly reached Scorpius' side while Ginny and Hermione were having some small talks with Draco, Ron was still fussing with Rose. Albus was now sharing a joke with James, something the brothers had rarely done since Albus' first year.

"Hello, Scorpius." Scorpius looked up at Harry with his wide eyes, stunned that Harry was addressing him personally. Harry had talked to Scorpius before, but always with Albus standing right by the young Malfoy's side, and never about anything much more than "how are you?". Harry Potter essentially had never have a real conversation with his son's favourite person in the whole world.

"Oh, hello Harry… I… I mean Mr Potter!" Harry could not help smiling at the boy's nervous excitement. "Scorpius, you are Albus' best friend, sure you can call me Harry if you like."

"Oh, yeah… hello Harry." All the blood in Scorpius' body seemed to have rushed to his face, he looked as red as a tomato by now. "I didn't mean to say that twice, sorry." he had looked down and was fidgeting a lot right now.

"Relax, Scorpius. I just want to see how you are doing. I understand that you have been hurt by Del… _her_."

The boy looked up at him, he seemed curious about how much Harry knew about the extent of his injuries. He carefully said, "I am fine. Th-thank you for asking, Mr Potter. I mean, Harry." He had returned to looking at the floor again, Harry felt frustrated that both of his attempts in making small talks only worked up the Malfoys instead of broke the ice.

An awkward moment had turned into a minute, Harry was debating whether he should just wish the boy merry Christmas then get going, when Scorpius suddenly looked up and blurted, "I'm so sorry, Mr Potter!"

"What? … what did you do that you should apologise to me for?" Harry was thoroughly confused.

"I … I should have turned in the ti… _it_ earlier. Things would not have gotten so out of hand if I have done that. Craig would not have… Also, I should have made Albus see sense when it all started. I jumped off a moving train and disguised myself as you, it was foolish and reckless of me as father has said… and, I should have…" Scorpius was red-faced and was slurring his words badly. It was clear that all these guilt and emotions had been bottling-up inside for a while, waiting for the perfect opportunity to be released.

It was too much for Harry to handle, for this unknown hero who had single-handedly reversed a nightmare of a reality in which the boy could have lived like a king, only to be bullied by everyone in this real world, to be apologising so profusely to himself "the Saviour", who got thanked every day for something he had done twenty years ago. It felt wrong that Scorpius, the follower of this adventure and ever loyal friend, would be here apologising when even Albus, the leader and his own son, had yet to properly apologise for his behaviours. It felt even more wrong that Scorpius, who had lost his mother and had experienced so much loneliness, would be here apologising to him when Harry, the orphan raised in an abusive household, had been the one who had separated this innocent boy from his only friend in school.

Harry had originally started this conversation in hope that he could find his opportunity to apologise. Seeing that things had taken such a wrong turn, he desperately wanted to do something to soothe the boy. He felt too self-conscious to apologise now, feeling the watchful glances of Scorpius' two protectors, Draco and Albus, whose attentions had been directed this way by Scorpius' agitated state and outburst.

"Scorpius," Harry had tentatively placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "you should not have to apologise." He looked up in response with his now shining eyes. Harry felt guilty at the sight of those eyes thinking how carefree he had appeared while getting off the train earlier.

"But...I...hmm" Scorpius was not convinced by Harry's words at all.

"It's not your fault, Scorpius." Harry said firmly. "If anything, you should be proud of yourself, all would have been lost if it's not for your bravery and determination."

The young Malfoy might not have believed Harry's words but he could definitely see his sincerity, he seemed to have calmed down in response and gave Harry a slight nod.

Sensing that the previous light-hearted moment had turned into one of uneasiness for everyone in their group thanks to him, he tried to end this poorly-executed conversation.

"I wish you a merry christmas, Scorpius. You really deserve a nice winter break after the terrible things you have been through." Harry winced when he realised that he had unconsciously make reference to that incident again, thankfully Scorpius did not notice.

"A merry Christmas to you too, Har… Mr Potter." He said with a warm, albeit a bit watery smile.

Draco continued to talk awkwardly with Ginny and Hermione, seemingly trying to avoid Harry after he had upset his child, while Scorpius was taking minutes to bid Albus farewell. The pair was laughing loudly one moment, talking seriously between themselves the next, at the end they must have hugged for a whole minute, completely oblivious to their surroundings, while all their families were looking on. They finally separated, allowing the Potters, the Weasleys and the Malfoys to go their separate ways.

* * *

A/N: I love writing Scorpius, he is such a great character with so many layers. I don't want my Scorpius here to suffer too much after the events in HPCC but I do believe that for a character so kind, he would definitely feel a certain degree of responsibilities for the incidents in HPCC.

Thanks for the favorites,follows and comments, your support is my motivation.


	4. Small Changes

Harry had always found cooking his favourite way to express his love and care towards his family, as he had never been great with words. If anything good had come out of his years with the Dursleys, it was the fact that by seventeen, Harry had been a brilliant cook of his age. He had been responsible in cooking the Dursleys' food since age seven and during the summer holidays in his few years of Hogwarts, one of his very few pleasures in the Muggles' house when he could not be left alone had been to experiment with new recipes. Cooking was something he had done forever, so of course it would come natural and easy to him. However, having grown up cooking the Muggle way, it was the one thing that he had continued to prefer doing the Muggle way. Of course, he would speed up cooking time with a few charms and all, but cooking by hands had always felt more personal for Harry.

Harry could not help looking out from the kitchen to steal glances of the living room whenever he could while preparing his five-course meal, a special treat to welcome his children home. Albus laughing and goofing around with his siblings at home was quite a sight to behold. For the past few years, Albus had tended to spend all his time at home inside his own room that mealtimes had been the only precious moments in a day for Harry to see his middle child. There were certainly quite a few silver linings to the Slytherin boys' adventure, Albus finally coming out of his shell and being comfortable in his own skin as a Slytherin Potter definitely counted. When Harry returned his attentions to his soup, he was humming (poorly, turned out music was Harry Potter's one big weakness) to himself.

Dinner was a huge success. The courses were so well-received that everyone had requested second helping for one thing or another, a rare feat given Albus had always tried to look as miserable as he could at the dining table for the past three years and Lily was at the age when she would start to worry about eating too much and would feel the needs to "resist temptation". In addition, Albus was in a pretty good mood tonight, he had helped Ginny set the table, had not appeared bothered by Lily's nagging, and surprisingly, he had even complimented Harry on the food.

Harry had been hoping to have a talk with Albus tonight but by the time they had cleared the plates, it was kind of late and he could tell Albus was exhausted from the long train ride. He knocked on his door, intending to briefly wish him good night.

"Come in." Albus' voice seemed to have come from a distance.

Harry opened the door to find his son busy writing a letter on his desk at the end of the room, what there was for Albus to write to Scorpius after being away from him for less than five hours he had no idea.

Albus turned as he sensed Harry coming in, his face unreadable but at least not angry. "Oh, dad." Perhaps the boy was expecting his mother, his brother or his sister… basically anyone but Harry. He seemed to have realised that his greeting might have come off as a bit rude as he awkwardly amended, "I mean, hi dad."

"There are a lot of things that I would like to talk about with you, Albus." Albus' face had turned wary immediately, "but I guess tonight isn't a good time for that. You must be very tired. For now I just want to say, it's great to have you back, son."

His face softened and replied, "It actually does feel good to be back, for the first time in a long while." This was the most he had let on about his feelings in front of Harry in forever. For what could have been seconds or minutes, the father and son just looked at each other. It was actually rather nice and not uncomfortable.

"Well, I will leave you to your letter then. Goodnight Albus." Even though Harry had said that, his legs seemed to refuse to move. Albus nodded but then got confused when Harry continued to just stare at him.

His legs had acted quicker than he thought, one moment he was still staring at his son's confused face, the next he found his arms wrapped around a very stunned-looking boy. While he had been staring at this face that looked so similar to his own a moment earlier, he had been painfully reminded of those sleepless nights when he had been so afraid that Albus had been lost forever. Harry was now panicking in the inside, he had indeed wanted to hug the boy a lot, but had not meant to act so rashly at all. What if Albus found this repulsive and was going to shake him off and yell at him, erasing all the hard-earned progress from the past two months.

To Harry's immense relief, Albus awkwardly but not repulsively patted him in his back. Since witnessing his grandparents' murder first-handedly, Albus seemed to have developed sort of a soft spot for his dad. He seemed to able to sympathise for the first time what it truly meant for Harry to have grown up without his parents. Back then he would have acted all irritated whenever Harry mentioned his childhood and how fortunate Albus had been growing up in a loving household, now he seemed to be able to see his grandparents and Harry's younger self as real people instead of characters from his old family history, and respected them as so.

Albus gave an embarrassed cough after the hug had gone on for a full minute longer than he would have liked, Harry got the hint and pulled away. A sheepish smile on Harry's face as he searched his son's face for reactions. The boy was trying to looking away from him nervously, he looked embarrassed but not annoyed. At last he looked up at him and attempted an awkward smile, it meant the world to Harry that Albus was trying at all.

To avoid any further embarrassment, Harry said, "I've missed you so much, Albus. I love you, my son.", then promptly closed the door before getting emotional and outstaying his welcome.

* * *

Harry had meant to spend more time with his children before Christmas but his week had been extraordinary hectic with raids, trials and tedious meetings that as Head of Department, he could not excuse himself from. Everyone had been keen on solving all the bigger and more urgent troubles before Christmas to make sure that the holiday would be a peaceful one to regain the goodwill from the public, especially after how Delphi had turned the people against the Ministry. At least his children, including Albus, seemed to be having a fun and relaxing winter break as far as he knew.

Albus had grown a lot as a wizard over the past four months. After more than three years, he had finally mastered flying on a broomstick. Harry could still remember the anxiousness he had felt when he had first started in Hogwarts. He had been so worried that he would not be anything people had expected him to be or that he would make a fool of himself by falling on his butt in his first flying lesson, so he truly did appreciate the determination it must have taken his boy to forget the humiliations he had endured to conquer his fear in flying. He had desperately wanted to tell Albus how proud he had been but had resisted for fear that Albus, who had grown up to the story about how Harry had managed to catch a Remembrall falling in midair the first time he had ever mounted a broomstick, might take it as irony. Still, it had come as a surprise to hear that Albus had joined James, Teddy and his cousins for a flight in the country the other day, despite the bitter cold. Even James, a seasoned Chaser, had complimented that Albus had managed to keep his balance remarkably well when it had gotten windy.

Ginny always took their children to visit Diagon Alley two days before Christmas to pick out Christmas presents, a visit Albus had opted out for two years. So when Albus had, contrary to her expectations, said yes, she had been absolutely delighted. When Harry finally flooed home that night after a very long day at the office, he was treated with the charming sight of a fully and colourfully decorated home with his exhausted but contented family laughing and chatting with butterbeers in their hands by the fireplace. It was simple yet absolutely beautiful, something he would never ever take for granted again.

* * *

Due to the enormous size of their extended family and circle of friends, the Potters always had their work cut out for them in wrapping presents and writing Christmas greetings. It had become a Potter holiday tradition for all to sit at the dining table to prepare the presents and cards the morning before Christmas (except for the ones among themselves of course). At least as adults, Harry and Ginny could use magic to get the more tedious tasks done. James and Lily would usually look up with jealousy or beg their parents to wrap their presents for them while painstakingly going through their twenty or so presents.

For the past two years, Albus had made quite a show to sit down to wrap his one present when Harry had asked him to join them, then promptly got up and left despite his parents' protests. Harry could feel his heart warmed when he saw Albus sitting down with his small pile of presents, sharing a good-natured smile with his family. It appeared that Albus had bought presents for not only Scorpius, but also Rose, Teddy, Neville, his grandparents, and surprisingly… Draco Malfoy. He seemed to have gained a deeper appreciation for his maternal grandparents following Godric's Hollow. Moreover, he was really taking his time to write a lot for each Christmas greeting. Within four-month-time, he had changed so much from the boy who would stay away from anything sentimental. While it still took him way less time to prepare all of his presents compared with everyone else, he volunteered to help Ginny and Lily with their wrapping and decorating afterwards instead of leaving immediately.

It was well into the afternoon when Harry finally got his chance to have his long overdue conversation with Albus.

* * *

A/N: By now I have realised that in order for me to write a Harry/Scorpius story, there's bound to be A LOT of Harry/Albus as Albus is a bridge between Harry and Scorpius. I have to confess Harry/Albus parts were among some of my least favourite parts in the HPCC script so it's a pleasant surprise that I have been able to enjoy writing my H/A parts quite a lot myself. At least Harry had learnt his lessons by now, so it makes sense that Harry would be able to get along much better with his son.

Again, thank you for all the follows and comments, as a newer fanfic writer and one who writes in her second language, all the support means so much to me.


	5. Father-son Talk

Harry saw Albus sitting on his bed while attentively patting and feeding his own owl, a birthday present for his eleventh birthday, when he entered what used to be his boy's sanctuary.

"Hello Albus." He made to take a chair to sit on, which Albus seemed to have no objection to.

"Hi, dad." He quickly gave Harry a look before returning his attention to the bird. "Amber will have quite a difficult job ahead. I have picked out a giant book for Scorpius. She will also have to carry mum's and your presents, as well as mine for Mr Malfoy as well." It was no wonder that Albus would be worried about how the bird would handle the workload, she had always been a smaller owl, though she had grown significantly bigger over the past few years. Harry had intended to get a larger and healthier owl for Albus, just as Hagrid had gotten him Hedwig, as his eleventh birthday present, but his son had immediately taken a liking to this black owl with large shiny amber eyes which had looked rather small for her age. It had become rather obvious that Amber reminded Albus, who had looked small for his age for as long as he could remember, of himself. Seeing Albus with his owl reminded Harry of his time at the Dursleys, with Hedwig as his only enjoyable company.

"What book have you gotten for Scorpius?" First tip of "communication with Albus", always tried to warm him up with Scorpius.

Albus' face brightened, "Oh… I have found him this antique Ancient Runes dictionary in the bargain corner of that smaller book store in the south side of Diagon Alley. I don't read Runes but Scorpius thinks it's absolutely fascinating for some reason. It's a pretty good deal too." It was actually quite alarming how happy his son would look whenever he talked about Scorpius, not that it was a bad thing.

"That sounds nice, I am sure Scorpius would love your present." Not that Albus needed Harry's reassurance, but he turned to give Harry a grateful smile anyway. Harry observed Albus as he gently tied the large package of presents to Amber's legs and sent her on her way. Normally, travelling to the Malfoy Manor would have taken Amber almost two hours, longer than what most other owls would take, but travelling with such a heavy workload would bound to take her longer. His son seemed very satisfied of himself as he imagined Scorpius' happiness of receiving his presents.

"I am actually kind of surprised that you are sending Draco a present as well." Albus' face turned serious immediately, he looked down as if searching for the right word to say.

"Well… Scorpius' parents have always been very nice to me. They have sent me birthday and christmas presents every year. And this year… he has sent those lovely chocolates after… It was nothing compared with what he has given me over the years but I have caused him so much troubles and fear. I just want to give something back… Scorpius has been worried about him ever since his mum had passed away."

It did not matter how incoherent Albus' speech was, Harry was proud of the thoughtful boy he saw. He reached out to pat his shoulder to show that he understand. He would very much like to pat Albus' head but he reminded himself that Albus would not like to be treated as a young child by him. "That's a nice thing to do, Albus. I am sure both Draco and Scorpius will appreciate your thoughts." The father and son just sat in comfortable silence for a while.

"Speaking of Scorpius, would you mind telling me more about him?" Albus' look transformed into one of suspicion immediately, Harry supposed his son did have a right to feel suspicious of his intentions.

"Albus, it's just that I realise I have never given enough effort to try getting to know your best friend. I know that you have met him on the Hogwarts Express and he shared sweets with you. I know that he loves reading everything and he seems to have a crush on Rose. I know the facts but I don't feel like I know him as a person. I would greet him when he would visit in the summer holidays, we eat on the same table at dinner but I don't know enough about him to make comfortable small talks. You two would be whispering between yourselves for the most part. I really want things to change because he is your best friend, he will be there for you for the rest of your life, like Ron and Hermione will be there for me. He is a sweet child who deserves better, but I need your help."

Deciding that his father was sincere and feeling pleased that Harry would acknowledge that Scorpius would remain his best friend for a long time, Albus' features relaxed as he began, "Well, I suppose I didn't dive into details of my first meeting with Scorpius when I first told you in a letter all those years ago… I still remember Rose reminding me that you met Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione on your first train ride." Here he raised his chin up and gave a spot-on imitation of Rose "Al. We need to concentrate on who we choose to be friends with."

Harry could barely suppressed his laugh, he really did not want to laugh about his niece and he could not even imagine what Ron would do to him if he found out. Encouraged by Harry's laugh, Albus continued to animatedly reenact his first meeting with his best friend. He showed him how badly the both of them had messed up their introductions, how Scorpius had sungsong sweets always helped making friends, how Rose had unsubtly tried to make Albus leave, and how Scorpius had frankly told Albus who he was, seemingly expecting Albus to withdraw with Rose. Rose, for her part, not only bluntly accused Scorpius' parents (not just his father) to be Death Eaters, she also had not tried to disguise her uncomfortable reaction to the "Son of Voldemort" rumour at all in front of Scorpius himself. Here Albus got all defensive in behalf of Draco himself, he went on to describe how heartbroken Scorpius had looked by the end and how he had just known that he liked this lonely boy a lot and wanted to be his friend.

By the end of those five minutes, Harry was struck by how similar himself had been compared to Scorpius. He tried to imagine a different world in which he had been famous at eleven not as "the Boy who Lived" but as the "Son of Voldemort". He had sat by himself in the train compartment, still wearing Dudley's old clothes, anxious to make his first friend. What if Ron had, upon learning who he had been, stood up and left instead of sticking around? What if he had bought every kind of sweets off the trolley but no one had been willing to give him a chance to share his sweets? Harry himself had been the odd boy whom no one would like to befriend in the Muggle school he had gone to, thanks to Dudley's reputation and old uniforms. He understood how destructive rumours could be to a young wizard's social life as well, remembering well his "Heir of Slytherin" and "boy who lied about Voldemort's Return" days. He did not even need to imagine how lonely it must have felt for the poor Malfoy.

Again Harry was reminded of the guiltiness he had felt for separating the boys, he could only have done that because he had never taken the time to truly understand this boy, something that could easily have been done in five minutes had he truly put his heart into this. He had been through so much in his own Hogwarts years but the period of time when he had been caught in the middle between his best friends in his third year and when Ron had stopped talking to him after his selection as the fourth champion had been pretty awful. Had his conflicts with his best friends been caused by someone else, he would have felt so mad at this person. At least while he had secretly hoped for Albus to make more friends before fourth year, he had never displayed a prejudice against Scorpius until the dark cloud nonsense.

"Dad, you okay?" Albus was looking at Harry with a concerned look.

"Yes, I'm fine. Scorpius' past really got to me, that's all… I guess I have never realised how bad he had had. I'm so glad he had you… I mean has."

"Except I have not been a great friend to him at all. Right before we used the Time Turner for the first time. Scorpius, of all people, had called himself 'crazily fortunate' just because he got to go to Hogwarts and have me as a mate. It'd been the most touching thing I have ever heard, yet I failed him right after. I…" Albus stopped himself, he seemed to realise that he would inevitably have to blame Harry if he continued.

"Anyway, I have been rubbish. I had never truly considered his feelings before he snapped. He has always had so little yet he keeps giving, even after his mother has passed away. I was so selfish, inconsiderate…"

Harry could not take it anymore. While there was undeniably some truth there, it was very difficult for him to see his own son being so hard on himself, and judging by how happy Scorpius had been around Albus, surely he had already forgiven Albus. "Albus… you are not rubbish." That had come out louder than Harry had wanted, but it had certainly caught his son's attention.

"You have only failed your best friend because you were threatened by your prejudiced and ignorant father." Albus was speechless and dumbfounded to hear Harry calling himself that.

"Everybody makes mistakes sometimes. I did when I said those stupid words to you. I did again when I forced you two apart. It was cruel, unfair and wrong. You were absolutely right to get mad at me for doing that. You, on the other hand, have stayed true to yourself and your friendship with him. You have insisted for all these years that Scorpius is the only friend you ever needed. I am sure he really appreciates you being there for him at his mum's funeral as well."

Albus shrugged, "Well, it was the least I could have done for him." He did not seem to want to give himself credits but he did not try to rebut Harry's argument either.

"Tell me more about Scorpius." Harry gently prompted.

"What would you like to know about him?" He asked after a moment of deliberation.

"Anything." Harry was actually dying to know if Scorpius had told his father he had been tortured but this would have been a terrible topic to continue the conversation with.

Albus looked very thoughtful then he unexpectedly broke into a smile. "Scorpius has always been unnecessarily posh but he seems to think that he is being completely normal. He has been wearing these ridiculous silk pajamas to sleep for as long as I have known him …" Once you got Albus started on Scorpius, it seemed like he could just go on forever. He went on to tell Harry how the two of them loved spending time at the Owlery, Astronomy Tower, or some remote corners on the grounds, where no one would be bothering them. It was bittersweet for him to hear because it was unfortunate that the Slytherin boys did not feel comfortable around others but they were obviously contented with each other as company.

Albus also told him that Scorpius' biggest hero was Bathilda Bagshot the historian, followed by Albus' own namesake, Severus Snape (at this he blushed pretty badly), so for Scorpius, the best thing he got from their "escapade" was the chance to meet both of his biggest heroes. Harry did not want to show his disgust in front of Albus but he still could not get Nagini the snake out of his mind whenever he was reminded of Bathilda Bagshot.

In any case, the more he learned about Scorpius Malfoy, the more sympathy and pity he felt for the boy. Draco had not remained close with the rest of the Greengrass family, as well as his Slytherin peers, so even in the festive holiday season, it would be just the two of them. Harry could imagine being in such an enormous but empty Manor would certainly make Christmas all the lonelier… unless.

* * *

A/N: As I have said, more Harry/ Albus interaction, not that I dislike writing it though. I may as well call this a Harry/ Albus (+Scorpius) story. Dialogue could be tricky for me since as much as I read in English, I don't get to speak in English much so I do worry that my dialogue would sound unnatural or not conversational.


	6. The Offer

When Harry thought about Christmas, his first year in Hogwarts had always stood out for him as his first real Christmas. Back when he had lived with the Dursleys, not only would he receive nothing for Christmas, he would also have to slave away at the holiday parties they had thrown. His first winter break had already started out pretty great with no classes, no chores, more food than he could possibly eat and the Weasleys to spend his time with. He had not have any expectation going to sleep on Christmas' Eve as it simply had not occurred to him that anyone would send him a present at all. He would never forget how moved he had felt to receive his first jumper from Molly Weasley, who had only seen himself once very briefly on the platform at the time. From then on, Molly had become as close to a mother to him as possible, so it had been amazing for him to actually become part of the family later on. Ron and some of the other Weasleys might have gotten tired of receiving jumpers as Christmas present every year, but certainly not Harry, who would be reminded of what it would have felt like to have a mother every time he received a jumper. It was upsetting to think about how Scorpius would feel now during Christmas, when he would be sorely reminded of his loss even more than most days.

"It must be very hard for Draco and Scorpius, with just each other to spend Christmas with." Harry did not realise he had said it out loud. He had no doubt that Draco, being the only family Scorpius had, loved Scorpius with all his life but Draco Malfoy did not struck him as a father who could ever be good at expressing his love, and it might be true that Draco could afford anything Scorpius would have wanted for Christmas, but just the imaginary lonely Malfoy Christmas in his head was enough to make him feel sorry for the poor boy. But then, there was another who was as close, if not closer, to Scorpius as any family could ever be.

Albus was taken aback by his father's abrupt change of subject but decided to go along with it. "Yes, I heard it was pretty depressing last year. Scorpius said they had this lavish christmas dinner together but did not share more than ten words with each other." That sounded even more terrible than Harry had imagined.

"But he is actually rather looking forward to it this year. Our Time Turner incident has brought him much closer to his father. Scorpius even cried into his father's arms and told him everything that ...night..." Albus trailed off as he realised he had told his father too much about his friend.

"That's ...great to know." Harry responded distractedly as he was processing the implication of what his son had just said, _Scorpius had told Draco everything_ … that would certainly include the torture, right? He was relieved as this meant he would not have to be the one to tell Draco that horrifying information. But then he focused his thought on the reason why he had brought up the Malfoy Christmas in front of Albus at the first place.

"Albus, I am wondering… if you would like to spend a few hours at the Malfoy Manor on Christmas morning?" The moment he said his thought out loud, Harry realised there would be no turning back, not that he felt regretful for saying that.

Instead of the excitement he had expected, his son was staring at Harry as if he had grown an extra head, which actually made a lot of sense. The Slytherin boys had requested to spend some time together during winter and easter breaks for the first two years. However, Harry had consistently said no since these two breaks were only two weeks long and Christmas was a time for family. By third year, the boys had given up hope of spending time together in the short breaks that they had not bothered to ask at all. It was true that Harry still believed it was important for Albus to spend Christmas with his extended family, but that did not mean he could not spare a couple of hours to make a difference to someone else's Christmas.

"But…" His son finally said, "you have always said Christmas is a time for family." Albus was still staring at his father, as if waiting for him to reveal that this was just a terrible joke.

"True, but family comes in all shapes and sizes, it does not even have to be blood family. The Weasleys have become a family to me since my first Christmas in Hogwarts. The same can be said about Scorpius and you, you are his family."

As he continued to stare at Harry's earnest expressions, Albus finally let Harry's suggestion sank in and his look of disbelief and uncertainty slowly morphed into one of wonder. He fist pumped into the air and screamed "Yes!" Then, in the fit of his excitement, he pulled his father into a hug. "This will be the best Christmas ever, thank you!"

Of course there would be some people he would have to persuade, some harder than the others, but as he was being hugged by his socially-awkward son for the first time in years, he knew he had make the right decision and he would have to make this happen no matter what.

As soon as Albus had let go of Harry, he started looking around and said, "This is so exciting! I have to write to tell Scorpius imme…" Harry stopped his son as he was pulling out his parchment. "Albus, this is quite a big thing to ask the Malfoys. It would be more appropriate for me to write to Draco myself." Albus deflated and looked ready to argue, but then stopped himself as he came to see the logics behind Harry's words.

Harry patted his son on the shoulder to reassure him, "I will go to start writing the letter right away and have Snitch take it to him, he should receive it before six, which will give him plenty of time to reply."

Albus nodded, then hesitated a second before asking "Will grandma and grandpa be unhappy to know that I will arrive late?" This might sound like a childish thing to ask but it was actually a rather valid concern. Christmas was after all one of the very few occasions for the entire extended Weasley family to come together that it was safe to say that Christmas day was the most important day of the year for Molly and Arthur Weasley. Molly would start working on her jumpers at least a month in advance and all the homemade delicious sweets and pastries a week in advance. It was also a day that would remind them of the loss of Fred. Albus loved his grandparents a lot that he would not want to be the one to ruin their Christmas. But then, Molly and Arthur had a whole dozen of grandchildren.

Harry gave his son his most fatherly and soothing smile and said, "Don't worry, I will take care of it, I promise." Albus seemed to trust his father enough to return a smile.

* * *

Harry immediately pulled out a piece of parchment to write to Draco after returning to his room. He had just started when Ginny entered.

"I take it your father-son conversation went well. I don't even know our son is still capable of making such an excited sound… Hmm, what are you writing, Harry?"

Harry was worried about Ginny's reaction but there was no point delaying the inevitable or lying. "Hmm… a letter to Draco Malfoy."

A confused frown formed on Ginny's forehead, "Okay… why would you be writing to Draco Malfoy now?"

"Because I need to ask his permission for Albus to visit Scorpius for a few hours tomorrow morning." Harry was so worried about Ginny's reaction that he did not try to elaborate on his answers at all.

"Let me get this straight, Albus has just screamed in delight because you have given permission for him to spend Christmas morning at the Malfoy Manor instead of the Burrow." Ginny said calmly, her face unreadable.

"Yes. And he will only be staying there for about three hours. He can open his presents at home with his siblings before flooing over to the Manor, where I will pick him up myself at around noon and bring him to the Burrow. He will still be having Christmas lunch with the entire family." Harry said in an unexpectedly defensive tone, he was bracing himself for anger or attack, except it did not come.

To Harry's surprise, Ginny's lip curled up into a smile. "That's actually not a bad idea. I have always felt sorry for poor Scorpius. He must be so lonely after his mother's passing… Hmm, you know, I think spending time with Scorpius would make our son more delightful at Christmas lunch. I know Ron and our nephews don't mean ill but it's hard for Albus to get teased so much for being a Slytherin."

Harry was extremely grateful for Ginny's positive response, and she had voiced one of the reasons why he had thought it would do Albus good to be allowed to visit the Malfoys on Christmas morning. While Albus had been there at all the Christmas dinners and lunches the last couple of years, he would always sulk in the corner for hours, trying to avoid everyone that he might as well be not there. It had not been his fault that all of his siblings and cousins had a lot of inside jokes and had generally been much closer among themselves since they were all Gryffindors, but it did not make it any better that Albus would try to hide in the empty rooms just to get away from people on Christmas day of all days. Of course some of the adults and the girls would try really hard to engage Albus in conversations or games, but it was like he simply refused to have fun. Harry was hopeful that having spent time with Scorpius on Christmas would put Albus in a much better mood for his grandparents' benefits.

Harry gestured to his parchment and said, "I would love to have a talk since I have been so busy these days but I should finish this letter as soon as possible."

Ginny waved her hand, walked over behind Harry as she said, "Of course, don't mind me. Scorpius would be so excited to learn the news!"

It was hard for Harry to focus on the task at hands with his wife's hands touching his shoulders and the sweet floral aroma of her shampoo reminding him of her presence every single second. Awaring that Ginny was reading his every word, he was feeling ridiculously self-conscious as he wrote,

" _Dear Draco Malfoy,_

 _You may be wondering why I would be writing to you on this particular day or why I am writing a letter without sending our presents. We have indeed sent out our presents with Amber just a while ago but I am writing in regards to a different but urgent matter._

 _I am wondering if it would be okay for you to have Albus visit the Malfoy Manor on Christmas morning for a few hours. I know that Scorpius does not have much family left and I believe letting Albus visit will bring Scorpius some well-deserved christmas cheers. It will make Albus' Christmas as well to meet his best friend. If you have no objection, Albus will be able to floo over at around nine in the morning, he will be expected at the Christmas lunch at the Burrow so he will have to leave at around noon. You are not obliged to say yes but I hope you can really take your time to consider, everyone deserves to be happy on Christmas._

 _In any case, merry Christmas to Scorpius and you, Malfoy._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Harry Potter_ "

Harry fetched Snitch, his owl, to deliver his letter immediately. He knew that this was a strange name for an owl but Snitch had shiny light brown fur which looked almost golden at times, he was also ridiculously fast that a trip to Malfoy Manor could take him less than an hour. Given the urgent nature of the message, it was important for Harry to pick the quickest owl to deliver.

"I hope he says yes." Harry said as his eyes followed the owl disappearing into the snowing sky.

"Of course he will. Whatever you say about Draco Malfoy, he _loves_ his son!"

* * *

A/N: More interactions with another character, believe it or not, I thought I would just be writing a "short" story with interactions among the main four characters when I first started, this fic is becoming much longer than I have first anticipated.


	7. Prejudices

Harry had expected a quick answer but certainly not that quick. He was preparing Christmas' Eve dinner, not even two hours after he had sent his letter, when he heard Snitch's knock on the kitchen window. He opened the window, the golden brown owl flew swiftly onto the table. Ginny had walked in, anxiously looking on as he untied not one but two light letters from the owl's legs.

The reply was surprisingly short.

" _Dear Harry,_

 _We will be delighted to receive Albus at the Manor on Christmas morning. I will disable the wards so you will be able to floo over. Thank you so much for thinking about my son in these special times._

 _Merry Christmas to you and your family too._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Draco Malfoy_ "

While Harry had expected Draco to say yes, he had certainly not expected the reply to be so… heartfelt, it was a sincere thank from a loving father without a hint of irony. It was unexpectedly nice that Draco would simply address him with his first name as well. Perhaps he had been right in thinking they were finally friends after all these years. Reading Draco's reply made him feel great, further convincing him that he had made the right decision.

Harry turned his attentions to the other letter and saw that it was addressed to Albus. He called his boy, who rushed into the kitchen within a millisecond with a nervous but excited expression.

"Draco said yes, and here's a letter for you."

Albus was grinning from ear to ear, he could barely contain his excitement as he received Scorpius' letter from his father. He ripped open the letter, took one look at the letter then gave out a hearty laugh. Harry was surprised when his son shoved the letter over for him and Ginny to see. There was only one line.

" _Albus,_

 _Oh Merlin! I am SO excited that you are coming for Christmas!_

 _Love,_

 _Scorpius_ "

Harry could feel his heart swelled as he felt the pure joy radiating from Scorpius' simple words of excitement. He turned to his wife to see an identical smile on her face.

Albus walked with bouncy steps back out to rejoin his siblings while Harry returned to his cooking.

"When are you telling my parents, Harry?" Ginny asked, the earlier smile had disappeared.

"I will floo over myself after dinner. They deserve to be told in person. I guess I should have asked their permission earlier but it was a spontaneous decision and once I have asked Albus, there was no turning back. Hopefully Molly will understand." Although he was supposed to inform both his parents-in-law about this development, it had only been Molly's reaction he had been worried about.

"I'm sure she will. She has been worried about Albus as well. Also, I have told her enough about the Time Turner incident to secure her good opinions of Scorpius, along with a much improved impression of Draco. I won't even be surprised if she end up inviting the Malfoys to the Burrow." Ginny said teasingly.

"It's a charming idea to imagine Scorpius spending Christmas with all of us at the Burrow but I don't think Draco will be ready to spend much time with a house of Weasleys anytime soon. We should first try with the Potter Christmas' Eve dinner next year." Harry said while cooking his signature red sauce for the pasta.

Ginny's face lighted up, "Hey, why don't we invite them to our Christmas party?"

"Oh, you mean the Christmas party held at Ron Weasley's house with a dozen of DA members in attendance? I would have invited them if it's held at ours this year with less people coming but it's not my place. Believe me, love, I'm not ready to be murdered by your brother yet."

"Ron's not _that_ bad. I actually believe that he's starting to _respect_ Draco after Godric's Hollow."

"You know what, I hope he does. With our boys so close, I really hope that Scorpius, and by extension, Draco as well, would be able to spend more time with us in the holidays, like how I spent a lot of time with you lot back when I was in Hogwarts. He must have been so lonely all these years."

"He seems so bubbly and optimistic, I would not have guessed that he had such a lonely childhood. I pity the boy for having Lucius Malfoy as a grandfather as well." Ginny was looking very thoughtful.

"Well, who would have guessed that Draco Malfoy's son would be so sweet? I would be lying if I said I didn't expect Scorpius to be a mini-Draco back then when we first saw him on the platform. He looked almost identical to Draco at that age." Ginny could not see Harry's face as he was adding the finishing touch to his giant turkey.

"At least we should introduce Teddy to Scorpius, it would benefit them both to have more in terms of family. They are cousins, right?" Harry pushed Ginny's hand away in time before she had dipped her finger into his sauce.

"Yes, second cousins." _That's a thought_ , Harry pondered. It was funny to him that it had never occurred to him before to introduce the cousins. As a former Hufflepuff head boy, his godson was considerate, intelligent and confident, he was altogether the perfect role model and big brother for Harry's children. He decided that he really liked the idea of Scorpius getting to know his cousin.

"We should definitely think about that, but we don't know too well about where Draco stands regarding Andromeda. Now, it's time for our Christmas' Eve feast."

Harry had outdone himself for Christmas' Eve dinner, which was a seven-course affair, including Molly's magnificent Christmas cake. Albus had already been in an excellent mood that he engaged in playful banters with both James and Lily. There were so much laughter from all of his children that Harry could almost pretend that the last three years of awkward dinners had never happened. Other than the chaotic mess that they had to deal with afterwards, it had already been shaping up to be the best Christmas in years.

* * *

It was quite late by the time the kids had retreated into their rooms that Harry finally got his chance to floo his parents-in-law. Arthur, who was sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, jumped when he saw Harry stumbled into his fireplace.

"Good evening, Arthur."

"Harry, it's good to see you but we weren't expecting you at this hour." He quickly came over to help brush off the soot from all over his son-in-law's cloak.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you but there's something I need to tell the both of you."

"You are not disturbing anything but you are surely worrying me. Well… I should call…"

Molly Weasley rushed out from the kitchen at this moment, still wearing an apron, hands covered in flour. "What's wrong, dear? I heard…"

Clearly Molly was stunned to see Harry at this time of the night. "Oh, Harry… anything's wrong, dear?" She started rubbing her hands on a towel hanging on her waist to appear more composed as she walked slowly towards her only son-in-law.

Harry was really nervous as he was looking at the concerned expressions of both Arthur and Molly. He was acutely aware of the weight of his wristwatch, the same one given to him by the couple twenty years ago, at this moment. They had always treated him like one of their owns, since long before he had truly became part of their family, that he could not bear for them to think him disrespectful or be disappointed in him. A part of him really wished he had asked for their permissions before he had given his and sought Draco's but he got to do what had to be done.

Harry took a deep breath and said, "I am very sorry but Albus will have to arrive late for his Christmas visit tomorrow. I have given permission for him to spend some time at the Malfoy Manor with Scorpius, his best friend, before going to the Burrow for Christmas lunch. If you are mad that Albus will miss out, please do not get mad at him, it was my idea that he should spend time with Scorpius, who has no family but his father, and Albus is worried himself that his coming late would upset you." Harry had rambled everything and he had, unconsciously, started looking down halfway, making him appeared even guiltier than he had felt.

After a moment of painful silence, he slowly looked back up to search for reactions on their face. They were looking at each other with uncertainty, but what Harry had not expected to see were his father-in-law's pursed lips and the hardening of his expression. Harry's heart sank as he remembered the beef Arthur had with Scorpius' grandfather, Lucius. Mr. Weasley had always been so easy-going that it had not occurred to him that he might have an issue with Harry's arrangement.

"If I remember correctly, this Malfoy boy was Albus' partner in crime in his Time Turner adventure." Harry could feel the sweats on his palm as he heard Arthur said in a voice devoid in his usual warmness. He felt a strong urge to defend Scorpius from all the evil misconceptions from the entire Wizarding Community, even at the expense of his own son and himself.

"Yes, that's true, Arthur. But Scorpius is _not to blame_ for anything. Albus was the ringleader of that whole operation. He was the one who had eavesdropped and found out about the Time Turner, he was the one who got manipulated by Voldemort's daughter and led Scorpius to run away from school. He was the one who insisted to go back a second time even after knowing he had failed once. But if you want to blame Albus, you should remember that he was just a pawn used by an insanely powerful and manipulative witch, and he was driven away by his sad excuse for a father. Among Delphi, Albus, Scorpius, Hermione and me, it is safe for me to say that Scorpius deserves the least blame for what has happened." Once Harry had started, it was almost impossible to keep his emotions in check even in front of Molly and Arthur, the couple he loved like his own parents.

Growing anxious from the tension arising, Molly patted Harry's arm soothingly and said, "That's not what Arthur meant, Harry dear. He would never blame a child for the terrible things that have happened." She reached out with her other hand to pull at his husband and said, "Do you remember what Ginny has said about the alternate reality that the poor boy has experienced?"

Arthur, for his benefit, had backed down with a softened and thoughtful look. "Oh yeah, I don't believe I could ever forget something like that. So he was the one who has brought it all back, it's so hard to believe that our hard-earned peace could be so fragile."

Having recovered from his earlier outburst, Harry felt terrible for losing control in front of his in-laws. He bowed his head and said, "I'm very sorry for acting out, Arthur. It was inexcusable and rude. Having made the terrible mistake of mistreating Scorpius because of his last name myself, I feel very strongly now when I get to experience the injustice he has been exposed to his entire life. It was not unlike some of the mistreatments I had experienced myself when I was younger. I can vouch that Scorpius Malfoy is one of the bravest and kindest boys I have ever known, completely unlike what anyone would have expected from a Malfoy."

"It's alright, Harry. I guess I should apologise too as it has certainly crossed my mind that this boy might be a bad influence on Albus. I have never made it a secret that I had a very low opinion of Lucius Malfoy, but his offspring and grandchild should not be held responsible for his mistakes." Arthur patted Harry on the shoulder to indicate that he bore him no ill will.

"I could not imagine the hell the poor boy must have been through in a world that You-know-who has won. I heard from Ginny that he has lost his mother too." Molly said in an affected tone, she was no doubt imagining one of her own grandchildren living in that world. It was interesting how young members of the wizarding community had no problem using Voldemort's name these days but older folks tended to stick with their old habit of not referring to the dark lord by his name.

"Yes, Scorpius is a very lonely child who reminds me a lot of myself." To further earn Molly's sympathy, Harry recounted the excitement he had witnessed from the boy for being able to bring home a clean trunk and some of the bullying he had heard from Albus. By the time he finished, he was sure that Molly was ready to give the boy a hug if he were there.

Not being able to hug Scorpius herself, Molly was now pulling Harry into a tight hug as she said, "You are quite right for wanting to give this boy some Christmas cheers, Harry dear. Do not worry about us, you can tell Albus to spend as much time as he wants with his best friend."

Harry did not even get to utter his thanks for the permission so freely given, as Molly was rushing back into the kitchen immediately after she had let go. Arthur turned sideway to give him a reconciling smile and a nod to show his approval for Albus' late arrival as well.

Molly quickly returned holding a red box, the same kind of box with pastries each of Molly's children's families would leave the Christmas gathering with, then placed the box on Harry's arms. "Here, Harry, give this to the Malfoys and give the boy a hug for me. You must be very tired, dear, Ginny said you were cooking the feast yourself tonight. Merry Christmas and we will see you tomorrow!" His mother-in-law was now urging Harry towards the fireplace and holding out the Floo pot for him. Harry dumbly mumbled his thanks and merry Christmas before flooing back to his own home. His arms cautiously trying to balance the cake box while he spinned back. He returned to his own sitting room and was immediately welcomed by the sight of his wife, who casually looked up from her book and asked, "Well, how did it go?"

* * *

A/N: It's funny how my story keeps evolving in ways I couldn't have foreseen during my writing process. Originally, Arthur wasn't even going to make an appearance here but then this little conflict just started taking shape. As nice as the Weasleys were in the books, they were completely capable of being ignorant like the general folks, like how they believed Sirius was a threat to Harry and how Molly believed Hermione was toying with Harry, and given the history between Lucius and Arthur, I thought it entirely believable that Arthur would show a bias towards poor Scorpius (even saint Potter did after all). Also, it's nice to show some growth in Harry's part here.


	8. Wake-up Call

Normally the Potters tended to sleep in a little on Christmas day, woke up at around nine, had a light breakfast before opening their presents together, then they would all change into their Weasley jumpers before flooing over to the Burrow to meet their extended family.

On this Christmas morning, Harry was woken up early by the sounds of footsteps walking up and down the stairs. He fell back asleep almost immediately after due to his sleep-deprived state from all the overtime he had put in this week. He had no idea how long had passed but by seven fourty, someone was knocking on his door, trying to wake them up.

"Merry Christmas, mum and dad! It's Christmas morning, time to wake up!" This was a miracle, it normally would have taken Ginny's yelling and dragging to finally get Albus out of bed well past nine on Christmas morning.

"It's not even eight yet... sweetheart. Go back to sleep!" Ginny was clearly not willing to get up yet, but Albus was persistent.

"Mum, can we open the presents sooner please? I want to get to the Malfoy Manor early. I can't wait to see Scorpius!" Ginny regretfully sat up, while Harry was disorientedly rubbing his eyes and trying to reach for his glasses. As much as both of them would love to get more beauty sleep on Christmas morning, they did not have the heart to say no to their son, especially when he was feeling so excited about Christmas for once in his life.

"We are getting up, Al. We'll see you downstairs soon." Ginny reassured his son but she was facing Harry with rolled eyes.

"Thanks, mum!" there came the gleeful response, more footsteps then knocking as they realised with amusement that Albus was going to wake up his siblings now.

"Wake up, sleepyhead! It's Christmas morning!"

* * *

By the time Harry was leaving his room while Ginny was still washing up, Albus was still knocking noisily on James' door. He could hear that Albus had already successfully woken up his sister, but waking up James would be a great challenge for anyone. James was now groaning grumpily and threatening to pin Albus on the ground the next time he saw his face.

Seeing that his father had emerged, Albus turned to plead with Harry, "Do we _have to_ open our Christmas presents together, dad? Can I just open mine myself before I go?" Harry realised that his son had already put on his new emerald Weasley jumper, the only exception to the Christmas present rule.

Harry knew that it would be tricky to wake his eldest son up early but opening Christmas presents together had been a Potter holiday tradition for years, he was not willing to have it discontinued this year.

"Unfortunately, we have to, Albus. But you can go ahead and get down, I will wake James up myself." Albus was relieved to have Harry take over. He beamed at his father then happily bounced downstairs.

As flattered as Harry felt to receive an Albus' smile directed to himself, his task on hand would not be easy. He turned toward James' door and knocked, "James, would you wake up please?"

"Dad, you are spoiling Al!" Harry sighed. Although James was usually very easy-going, he could be even stubborner than Albus when he wanted to be. Also, he could not deny James' accusation as he was indeed thrilled that Albus would allow himself to be spoiled after having distanced himself from his family for three years.

It had taken Harry everything, from reasoning, persuading, cooing, bargaining to finally, bribing with James' favourite Weasleys Wizard Wheezes' products (though he had made James sworn to keep it a secret from Ginny), to get him out of his room. By the time they had gotten downstairs, Albus was fidgeting impatiently at his seat on the table with his entire pile of presents in front of him, while Ginny and Lily were seated eating bread rolls. Once James had reached the ground, he immediately threw the pillow he was holding at Albus' head. "You selfish prat!"

Normally this would have made Albus angry in an instant, but perhaps it was because he knew he was in the wrong, or just that he was in such an excellent mood knowing he would meet his best friend very soon, that he simply caught the pillow and laughed it off. "Merry Christmas to you too, James!"

"Don't you need to eat something, Albus?" Harry asked as he took his seat.

"I have already eaten. I've been up an hour." Harry could tell Albus was impatient for everyone to finish eating so they could start opening the presents. The sooner they opened the presents, the sooner he would be able to leave for the Malfoys.

It had taken the couple three minutes of very uncomfortable eating under Albus' watchful glance before they gave up and had everyone stopped eating and started unwrapping their presents so Albus could get going and they could have their peace. To appease their other children, Harry even promised that they could go back to sleep afterwards if they wanted.

After the disastrous conversation the last time he had given Albus a present, Harry had thought really hard to come up with a good present this Christmas. Although to be fair, it was thanks to the blanket that the world could be saved and Albus had after all grown to appreciate it that he had shyly requested to keep its remnants, which he had gotten back only after Molly had stitched a piece of white cloth covering the entire back of the blanket, as Harry had requested. He had finally settled on a high quality Wizard's Chess set after some deliberation. He had thought of getting a broomstick but decided to delay that a bit until he was sure Albus' interest in flying could last.

Albus seemed to like the chess set, but he seemed to like Scorpius' and Draco's presents even more, a protection charm made of a multi-coloured gemstone and a luxurious quill made of a shiny black feather, with its top bit handsomely plated with gold. He was reasonably pleased by the presents he had gotten but it was obvious that none of his presents excited him as much as the prospect of spending time with Scorpius on Christmas morning. He had torn opened the wrappings of his presents as quickly as he could without stopping to admire any of them beyond giving his initial reactions that he finished unwrapping everything in a record four-minute-time. He proceeded to put them away in his room immediately.

Harry was glimpsing through a new book given to him by Hermione, while Ginny and the other kids were taking their time to unwrap presents, when Albus returned in front of him. "Dad, I have unwrapped all my presents, can I visit Scorpius now?"

Harry took a look at the clock and sighed, it was only five past eight. As convinced as he was that Scorpius would be thrilled to get to spend extra time with Albus, arriving almost an hour early unannounced on Christmas morning seemed extremely rude to Harry.

"You are expected to arrive at nine, Albus. It would be rather rude for you to just show up this early. How about this? I will give Draco a call to make sure they're ready for you before you floo over there yourself." Albus nodded reluctantly.

Harry tiptoed around all the opened presents, torn wrapping papers and gift boxes before arriving before his fireplace. He took a deep breath as he took hold of his handful of Floo powder. Maybe it was because of the terrible memories he had with Floo calls, or because it felt intruding for Harry to show up inside another's house, whether you were expected or not, or it was simply unnatural to have your head somehow disconnected with your body, Harry had always hated calling at the Floo. Most of the Muggle ways and inventions might be inconvenient, but Harry really wished that the Muggle mobile phones could be popular among wizarding folks. There was no denying that this Muggle mean of communication was far more advanced than any wizarding mean of communication.

* * *

Once Harry had opened his eyes after putting his head through the green fire, he realised that he had appeared inside the Manor's sitting room. It was huge and very grand but dimly lit as only one out of five curtains had been pulled up. At first he was feeling frustrated as the room looked empty to him, until he made out a slender figure curled up on an armchair by a floor lamp in one corner of the room, completely engrossed in his reading that he had not noticed that the Floo had been activated.

Harry let out a cough then called out, "Scorpius."

The boy jumped then turned towards the fireplace, "Who is it? Hmm...Mr… Potter?" He broke into a jog as he recognised it was Harry who had suddenly appeared in his home.

Scorpius was sounding a bit breathless by the time he reached the Floo and got down on his knees. "Is everything okay, Harr...Mr Potter? Something has happened? Is Albus coming?" He seemed to be assuming something must be wrong for Harry to show up this early at the Floo.

Harry had wanted to talk to Draco directly first but seeing the boy so nervous, he knew he needed to reassure him first thing. "There's nothing to worry about, Scorpius. We are just wondering if Albus can come over now. He's too excited that he made us opened our presents early for him. Could you…" Harry was going to ask _could you ask Draco to come over so I can talk with him_ , but was interrupted.

Scorpius had squealed with delight. "YESSSSSSSS! Of course Albus can come early! I woke up at six and couldn't get back to sleep because I have been so excited! I…" The boy had realised in horror that he had squealed in front of the one and only Harry Potter that he put a hand over his mouth, speechless.

Harry could not help but laugh at the boys' mutual excitement and anticipation for this meeting, but stopped abruptly when he realised the poor boy was blushing further, thinking he was laughing at him. "Hmm… Scorpius, it's perfectly fine for you to be excited, there's no need for you to feel embarrassed."

Scorpius appeared relax a little but he was still blushing when he said, "Thanks, Harry… I guess I just overreacted…"

Harry smiled good-naturedly as he said, "That's fine. In fact, Albus has appeared really excited this morning himself… Hmm, Scorpius, Albus will be able to come right away but I want to tell Draco myself before he come."

The boy beamed. "Of course, Mr Potter. I believe he is in the kitchen, it's just around the corner. Please wait a second…" With that, he rose and ran to the door then called out, "Dad! Mr Potter is at the Floo!"

Draco Malfoy appeared within a minute when he marched into the room purposefully. He moved rather elegantly with the long train behind his suit flowing smoothly in sync with his steps. He was wearing a fancy dress suit in dark green and black outside a white shirt ...with ruffles? His attire was obviously tailor-made and was tight-fitting with loads of buttons that it seemed extremely inconvenient and uncomfortable to wear at eight in the morning. Harry was starting to wonder if Malfoy slept in suits as well. But then of course his clothes would be spotless and wrinkle-free as well. Looking up from the fireplace to see Malfoy coming toward him like this, Harry got to admit he looked a bit intimidating, which was a sharp contrast with Scorpius, who was following behind his father and bouncing happily forward in a cosy-looking jumper and flannel trousers.

Malfoy got to the point immediately once he had reached the Floo, "Potter, what's wrong?" Harry could not suppress a sigh, the Malfoys were perhaps the most pessimistic people in the world. But it was understandable given that they were so unpopular among the general public that not many good things ever happened to them.

Harry felt a bit self-conscious to talk to Draco Malfoy like this, "Good morning, Malfoy. There is absolutely nothing wrong except that Albus has woken up my entire family before eight so he could visit earlier. I just want to make sure that Albus coming now is okay for you since I did write that we would arrive at nine." Hearing this information a second time somehow made Scorpius even more excited, he was now bouncing up and down next to Draco.

Draco looked slightly taken aback, no doubt feeling a bit embarrassed for his serious reaction, but resumed his usually calm expression after a beat, "Hmm… of course Albus is welcomed to come now… That would be great." He did not look too excited himself but he was now looking affectionately at his excited child.

"Great. Then we will come through in a minute." With that, Harry awkwardly came out of the fire and returned to his own noisy sitting room.

* * *

A/N: I paid a small tribute here to Alan Rickman with Draco's outfit. Alan had said that he had requested Snape's clothes to have really tight sleeves (which I thought would be a bit too specific to add here) and a lot of buttons because the idea that Snape had to button up his clothes had helped him. I like the idea that Draco would like to feel in control with his look with all those buttoning up.

It was gratifying to receive much more positive responses than usual from my last update, thank you for all the lovely support. I especially love reading the comments, cheers =)


	9. Exciting (and Awkward) Meeting

Albus was as expected, eagerly waiting for Harry right in front of their fireplace when he returned. His son had already put on his cloak and shoes, looking ready to leave at a moment's notice.

"Are they ready, dad?"

"Yes, they are ready. Apparently, Scorpius' been up since six." Harry was now leaving the fireplace to let his son get into it. "You can go on ahead while I pick up your grandma's cakes and join you in a second."

Albus did not need to be told twice, he was gone by the time Harry had finished the sentence. Ginny was at Harry's side by the time he reached the table to retrieve Molly's box.

"You'll be back immediately after you drop this off, right?" She had placed a hand behind his neck.

"Of course, this is Draco Malfoy we are talking about. It's not like there's much for us to talk about. I should be back in about five minutes." Harry could feel his ears warming up.

"Good, I feel like we haven't been able to spend more than ten minutes alone this week. Say hi to Draco and give Scorpius a hug for me."

"You Weasley women are so maternal… I don't think I'm close enough with Scorpius to hug him though, especially in front of Draco. But I can tell them you wish them both merry Christmas." Molly's cakes were quite heavy that he had to be extra careful while getting into the fireplace.

* * *

Harry first realised that he had returned to the Malfoy Manor's sitting room not by sight, but by the delighted shout that penetrated his eardrums the moment he arrived "...BUS, I MISS YOU! This is going to be the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!" Then he was greeted by the sight of the blonde boy hugging his son so tightly that he wondered if Albus was able to breathe at all. Albus might not be hugging his best friend as intensely, but he was gladly returning the hug as well. It was amusing to think that they were hugging as if they had not seen each other for months to years, instead of a mere five days, but their pure happiness and excitement for seeing each other was undoubtedly infectious. Standing by the boys' side was Draco Malfoy, with the warmest and most genuine smile Harry had ever seen on that pale face. Even Harry was so attentive to the boys hugging that he had forgotten to get out of the Floo, still holding Molly's box.

Malfoy was the first to turn and notice Harry, he tried to suppress his smile to look more impassive as he said, "Potter. Please, come on out."

Harry was now feeling rather dumb to have stood inside the fireplace for a whole minute. At Malfoy's words, both boys released each other then turned towards his direction. Albus immediately rushed over to receive the box so he could get out easier.

To hide his earlier embarrassment, Harry looked down to brush off the soot on his cloak immediately after he got out, which did nothing to ease the awkwardness he felt when he looked up, with everyone else looking at him.

After a moment's silence, Draco said, "Good morning, Potter." Harry kind of wished that Malfoy would call him Harry like he had done in the letter, but it did feel natural to hear the word "Potter" out of Draco's mouth.

"Good morning again, Draco. Ginny wished you and Scorpius merry Christmas." He did not seem to notice that Harry had called him by his first name, or if he did, he did not react to it except for stiffly but politely returning the holiday greeting. The air was still thick with awkwardness, luckily, Scorpius piped up happily at this moment. "Good morning and merry Christmas to you, Mr Potter! Oh, and merry Christmas to you too, Albus!" Albus was now grinning at his best friend.

Harry was glad to have the excuse to turn away from his former nemesis, he fondly looked at Scorpius and said, "Merry Christmas to you too, Scorpius. How is your holiday?"

"Oh, it's awesome, Mr Potter! I have read three new books and they are all very interesting. I got to do a lot of decorating this year and that was a lot of fun. Oh… thank you so much for your extra present this year by the way, I was so surprised to receive two presents from you and Mrs Potter."

"You're very welcome, Scorpius. I hope you like it." Harry did not want to tell the boy that this was his first real present to him. For the past two years, Ginny had insisted on sending Scorpius Christmas and birthday presents as the Malfoys had been doing the same for Albus since the very beginning. Harry had no objection to that but he had always left his wife to it even though Ginny had always made sure to include his name when sending out the presents. Whether it had been his guilt, pity or sympathy, Harry had decided to send the young Malfoy a Christmas present for real this year and had Ginny sent her own present. Unless Draco's parenting style was similar to the Dursleys', which Harry highly doubted so, it would be safe to assume that Scorpius could use some extra presents given how few relatives and friends he had.

"I do! I've already read two chapters. The tips look like they would really come in handy in my O.W.L.s studies, I can't wait to finish it." Harry had taken a long time in picking a suitable present for Scorpius. Knowing that he was a bookworm, sending a book seemed like the safest bet but he was afraid that he would have gotten something that the boy had already owned. He ended up picking a book on defense against dark arts that he had discovered early in his career as an Auror and had found it extremely useful in his work. There were a lot of practical tips and spells that he believed could be of use for the young Malfoy in both his studies as well as dealing with bullies. The book was lesser-known and a bit advanced for his age but judging from the boy's intelligence, he should be able to appreciate it to its full potential. Albus, as well as most of the other students his age, might consider it more of a punishment than a present to receive it though.

"That's good to hear." Harry gave Scorpius a cordial smile, the boy grinned in return then got distracted by the box Albus had been holding.

"Albus, what's this you are holding?" He asked curiously.

Harry had forgotten about the box. At this question, he took it back from Albus then turned to face both Draco and Scorpius when he said, "Scorpius, these are some cakes for you from Albus' grandmother, Molly Weasley."

Scorpius' mouth formed an "O", then he slowly said, "That's … very nice of her." There was a frown on Draco's puzzled face, he was no doubt feeling surprised by the Weasley's matriarch's generosity, especially considering the beef between the two families. He seemed to hesitate a bit before asking quietly, "But why?"

"My mother-in-law is the most maternal woman I have ever known. She has knitted me a jumper after only briefly meeting me once. It hurts her to think about children being lonely in Christmas." Harry's adoration for Molly was very evident in his voice.

"No offense but it's hard to reconcile the word 'maternal' to the woman who managed to kill my intimidating aunt." Harry winced before he saw the good-natured smirk on Draco's face and realised that he was joking. The Malfoy's brand of humour would certainly take him some time to get used to.

"Grandma bakes the best cakes in the world, Scorpius! You're going to love them!"

The young Malfoy was blinking rapidly, he seemed overwhelmed by the kindness he had been receiving. "Everyone… seems so nice this Christmas…"

Noticing the emotional state his best friend was getting into, Albus immediately enveloped Scorpius into a hug as his friend let out a sob. Draco was looking slightly upset to see his boy cry but he seemed glad that Scorpius was not crying tears of sadness and that Albus was there to provide some comfort for him. He realised Harry was still holding the cake box, so he came over to take it somewhere, presumably to the kitchen, giving the boys some space. Harry remembered Draco saying he had difficulties talking and reaching to Scorpius after Astoria's death. It impressed him that Draco Malfoy, of all people, had been able to place such remarkable faith on Albus, the then thirteen-year-old son of his former nemesis, to comfort his only son when he himself could not. Harry was feeling rather uncomfortable witnessing the scene, he wished that he had left the room with Draco when he had the chance.

Fortunately, Scorpius had recovered sooner than Harry had expected, within a minute he was laughing at some bad joke Albus had just said to cheer him up amid his tears. Having wiped his face with a handkerchief, he turned to Harry and said, "I'm … so sorry, Mr. Potter. I didn't mean to cry. It's so embarrassing…"

At this moment, Harry felt such an urge to do exactly what both his wife and mother-in-law had asked him to do, to pull this lonely boy, a boy who would be moved to tears just because people were being nice to him during Christmas times, into a hug. However, he was afraid that Scorpius would find it offensive, Albus would find it embarrassing and Draco… he would return any second now and Harry did not even want to know what he would think to see Harry Potter hugging his son, so he settled on a fatherly pat on Scorpius' shoulder. "That's alright, Scorpius. There's nothing for you to feel embarrassed at all. You must have been through a lot of unhappiness for someone your age."

"Hmm… I guess. But I'm fine. No, I'm good, I'm feeling great. I have received five extra presents this Christmas, including the cakes, and I got to hang out with Albus on Christmas day, which is definitely the _best_ present ever!" Harry smiled warmly as he could tell how genuine the boy's happiness was.

"Dad, do I have to leave at noon? Can I stay longer?" Albus was now looking at Harry with what could only be described as puppy eyes. It was astonishing how willingly he had transformed from moody teenager who wanted nothing to do with his dad to attention-seeking child who would take any opportunity to be spoiled by his dad.

Even though Molly had said that Albus could spend as much time as he wanted with Scorpius, Harry could tell that if he knew, he would easily spend his entire morning and afternoon with his best friend and no time at all with his own family, so it would be better for Harry to pretend that Albus must leave on time but to arrive a bit later to pick him up, lunch with almost thirty people usually took a whole hour to set up outdoors anyway.

Harry feigned a more serious expression and said, "Albus, you know how important the Christmas lunch is for your grandparents, of course you will have to be there."

Albus was sulking disappointedly with his pouty lips but did not try to argue. It was now Scorpius' turn to comfort his best friend. He patted him on the back and said, "It's alright, Albus. We can do so much in almost four hours. Besides, I would spend a lot of time with my relatives on Christmas day too if I still had relatives to spend time with."

Scorpius had a way of making everyone felt bad about him without meaning to. Instead of being in need of comfort, Albus was now attentively looking at his friend's face to see if he was alright, his disappointment completely forgotten. Luckily, Scorpius looked perfectly happy, albeit rather confused by Albus' sudden attentions.

Presently, Draco walked in and said, "Breakfast's ready, boys. You can come to the dining room if you are ready."

Albus regretfully looked at Scorpius and said, "Oh, I have already eat…" Upon seeing the slight disappointment on his friend's face, he amended, "but I should still be able to eat something I guess."

Harry could completely understand why his son would agree to eat even though he had eaten, but as his father, he had a responsibility to make sure Albus would not make himself sick from overeating. "I guess you haven't eaten too much for breakfast, Albus, so whether you eat anything or not here is your own choice. But don't say that I didn't warn you if your grandma thinks you are sick when you refuse second-helping of her famous roast beef." His son's pouty lips had returned but he started moving toward the door anyway.

Harry now turned to Draco and said, "Draco, I should leave now. I will return between noon to one to pick Albus up, hopefully I can return later to give them a little extra time."

Surprisingly, instead of nodding silently, Draco Malfoy was looking rather uneasy. He seemed to be working up to say something while Harry was looking on puzzledly. The moment seemed to drag on until he had lost his patience, "Is there something you would like to say, Malfoy?"

His voice was low when he spoke, "Hmm… I am wondering, would you like to stay for a cup of tea? And perhaps breakfast if you have not eaten?" Although he had asked while looking Harry in the face, he had seemed very much tempted to look down.

* * *

A/N: I hope I'm not turning Scorpius into a cry baby. IMO he's just too pure for this world.


	10. Breakfast Invite

With his mouth slightly ajar, Harry was doing a poor job hiding his surprise. Draco Malfoy had looked rather self-conscious and awkward while asking whether he would like to join them for a cup of tea (and perhaps breakfast). His former nemesis reminded Harry a lot of an awkward school boy trying to make friends on his first day of school, which was the complete opposite of Draco's younger "superior" self confidently and condescendingly offering his friendship. Being reminded once again of their conversation at his office … _Mainly I wanted to be happy_ , Harry could not help feeling sorry for Malfoy.

It had not surprised him then to hear Draco admit that he had not been happy in his youth, but the more he thought over this, the more pitiful Draco's life appeared to him. Sure he had been a bully and a pain in the arse back in Hogwarts, but young Draco had been very much Lucius Malfoy's creation. The older Malfoy had been obsessed with blood purity, powers and Voldemort that he had instilled all his superiority and believes into his son, who had idolised him and had yearned desperately for his approval. In a way, Draco had been raised with (at least he had thought so) everything he had wanted, a noble name, wealth, prestige, parents, and power, while Harry had grown up believing he had nothing. Little had they known, their situations would be completely reversed by the time they were forty. Harry now had a loving family, enough money to comfortably support his family for the rest of his life, a well-respected job, the admiration of the majority of the wizarding world and a lot of friends, while Draco had lost his true love and his parents, had no friend and relative that he kept in touch with, and he would forever be stuck with his ruined names, others' disdains and a cruel rumour that plagued him as well as his precious son, he had lost everything he had valued except for his wealth and Scorpius.

While Harry most definitely preferred finishing breakfast with his family and stealing a cosy moment with his wife to having a very awkward tea (and breakfast) with Draco Malfoy on Christmas morning, he understood that it must have taken his former rival a lot of courage and internal struggles to take this step to initiate a friendship, and if he said no now, he could rest assured that Draco would never ask him again, whereas his family would always be there for him. Also, something had definitely changed since Draco's visit to his office that Harry had felt connected to Malfoy and for the first time ever, he genuinely wanted to be his friend, no matter how scandalous this would be for some of the wizarding world. Besides, it was only eight twenty that surely it would not have hurt to stay for a bit.

The rare look of insecurity was still there on Draco's face while their sons had stopped dead in their tracks when they had heard the invitation. They had turned and wanted to witness their fathers' exchanges, with an excited look of anticipation on Scorpius' face and a mixed expression of shock, uncertainty and dread on Albus', clearly he was not keen on having his dad with him while having fun with his best friend. It felt like the air had been sucked out of the room with three people staring at him breathlessly when Harry answered, "Hmm… that would be nice, I guess I can stay for a little while. But I will have to call home briefly as my wife… the rest of my family are expecting me."

Draco literally let out a breath of relief, which he realised a moment too late when he coughed and said, "Of course, take your time." Scorpius looked absolutely thrilled at the prospect of witnessing the historical moment of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy having a cup of tea together, while poor Albus looked extremely disappointed, but Harry reminded himself that he was agreeing not because he wanted to make things hard for his son, he was agreeing for Draco, for a second chance he believed the former Death Eater deserved.

Harry called home with Malfoy waiting nearby as the Slytherin boys proceeded to the dining room. His sitting room had mostly been cleaned up by the time it had come into views. James seemed to have returned to his room, Lily was excitedly playing with some moving figure of a member from a popular band at the table, while Ginny was simply resting on the sofa, looking tired despite it being so early. At the sight of his head instead of his whole body, she raised an eyebrow. "I have left you to it for ten minutes and Malfoy has already got you beheaded? Or am I just too sleepy that my eyes are playing tricks with me?"

"Ginny, I knew I have said that I would return immediately, but Draco has just invited me to have a cup of tea…" the invite had gotten his wife's attention that she immediately got up to get close to him, "I think this would be a perfect opportunity to know him better. I'm sorry but I will only stay for a short while for tea, I promise I'll be back within half an hour."

"First Albus, now you, I'm starting to think that Ron was right to get worried..." Ginny seemed to be talking to herself instead of him with a slightly displeased impression.

Harry started to panic, "It's alright, I can go back and told him no…"

"Harry," Her teasing smile was mere inches away from his face, "you are just way too much fun to tease that I couldn't pass this up. Of course you can stay for a cup of tea. Actually, could you ask if I can come as well? Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy having a drink together, I can't possibly miss that!"

He was relieved that she was not upset but he was feeling concerned for Draco, "Hmm… I'm not sure, love. He seemed so shy and self-conscious when he asked, I guess you coming would be a bit too much for him."

Ginny was sulking with an expression that looked identical to Albus', but she recovered within a second, "Well, I guess someone does need to keep an eye on our other kids."

"Thank you, love. You're the best." Harry was now leaning forward, wanting to give his wife a kiss but he found leaning forward with only his head very difficult. Sensing what he wanted to do, she leaned forward too to kiss him right in the mouth. It was not quite as good as the cosy moment he had in mind but good enough, if he could ignore the fact that Lily was now openly gaping at the mortifying sight of her dad's _head_ kissing her mum. Their children had been disgusted at their displays of affection enough as it was without the creepy factor.

* * *

When Harry returned to the Manor, Draco was not exactly smiling but he looked somewhat amused, making Harry feel very self-conscious and wonder if Draco had somehow witnessed his little intimate moment with Ginny. Seeing how uncomfortable his guest was, Malfoy attempted a little smile that did not appear as welcoming as he had intended and said, "Please come over this way, Potter."

Harry dumbly complied and followed his host briefly along a dark corridor, before entering a grand dining room with beautiful marble flooring and a long wooden table fit for at least a dozen of people, which was handsome but not as luxurious as he would have expected and was filled with food. There was plenty of spaces around the table that he would not be surprised if thirty people could be seated here with some extension charm. Harry suddenly remembered that Voldemort would most definitely have used the dining room for meetings and started to feel uneasy and sick.

His host however, immediately understood his concern and said calmly, "Don't worry, Potter. Neither the Dark Lord nor any of the Death Eaters… well, any of the Death Eaters except my family, had entered this dining room before." Although Draco had been a Death Eater, Harry had never truly considered him as one, it felt wrong for him to hear Malfoy grouping himself together with the others. "This is much smaller but cosier than the original dining room we had."

Harry would not call a dining room that could fit in thirty people cosy but he knew better than to argue. He turned his attentions to the table where the boys had been seated already. Even though Malfoy was only supposed to prepare breakfast for two people (three even if they had thought that Albus would eat with them), there was enough food here to put Harry's own Christmas's Eve's "feast" to shame. There was an assortment of bread, a thick stack of pancakes, a dish of honey scones, an assortment of jams, a dish of scrambled eggs adorned with truffles, a pâté of foie gras, a dish of cold cuts with smoked salmon, parma ham and the likes, an assortment of sausages, a dish of golden hash brown, a dish of wild mushrooms cooked with truffles, a dish of grilled tomatoes, assortments of cheeses and chopped fruits, and a dish of Molly's mini fruit cakes. For drinks, there were tea, pumpkin juice and milk available. The temperatures of all the foods and drinks were carefully moderated with warming or cooling spells respectively.

He could not help himself from rolling his eyes. "Malfoy, there is enough food here to feed an entire army."

"The Malfoys are always the best in hosting meals and parties." There was an air of smugness in his tone that reminded Harry of the arrogant bully he used to know. "Besides, I want everything to be perfect for Scorpius. Last year's Christmas has been a disaster and he has been through so much this year."

Harry was wondering if this, like another extravagant feast from last year had been, was Draco's clumsy and misguided attempt in expressing his love for his boy. He started to feel sorry for him again thinking that the only thing he had been able to do to compensate for his boy's loneliness and sadness had somehow emphasised that emptiness and all the associated emotions even more. At least this feast was bound to be different with the presence of Albus Severus Potter, who had already begun stuffing his face with all the delicious foods. It was time like this that Albus would remind Harry of Ron, the boy had used to eat like a pig all the times before Hogwarts. He knew that he would be absolutely powerless in stopping his boy now that he had seen the buffet, even worse, he was tempted to have breakfast himself despite his promise to Ginny. Still, he tried to hold his ground by teasing his host.

"And to think that you only had half a day to prepare this." He muttered to himself as he sat on one side of his host, who was sitting at one end of the table with Scorpius sitting at his other side, he was somehow glad that Draco chose to ignore him.

"Albus, you got to slow down, you are definitely going to choke…" He shut up as he noticed how annoyed his son was for being babied in front of the Malfoys.

Draco poured him a cup of tea, he uttered his thanks then started to stir in a lot of sugar, which was not allowed in his own home. Draco looked amused while Albus was staring with a mischievous expression, no doubt realising he had found a lever he could use against him in front of Ginny. Harry tried to look away as he could feel himself blushing.

Scorpius was completely oblivious to the little exchanges as he was intently buttering one of two slices of toasts served exclusively to him on special silverware. The boy had amazing postures and his movement was rather graceful, which was a sharp contrast to his wolf of a best friend, who was devouring everything right next to him.

Harry looked around and saw that there were no other toasts on the table, his curiosity got the better of him. "Scorpius, are your toasts specially-made for you? They are served differently from anything else here."

"Oh, yes!" the boy beamed brilliantly, "they were sliced from the loaf of bread Rose got me for Christmas, Mr Potter! They smell so good!" One pair of green eyes met another, before Albus started choking very loudly from the food he was wolfing down a moment ago.

"That's… nice of her." Harry tried to answer politely even though he was reminded of the 50-pence, toothpick and tissue he had received from the Dursleys in his youth, presents that were meant more as mean jokes, but Scorpius seemed genuinely delighted to have received his bread.

"Yes, bread is one of my favourite foods in the world." Scorpius answered while concernedly patting his friend's back. Harry suddenly remembered his niece's nickname for the boy. Poor boy, he was so clueless.

"That would have been enough for me, but she has also sent me a nice book of magical bread recipes to me. I don't usually cook but I'll certainly try learning some of those." That was more like it, at least Rose was not as mean as he had thought just now, or he would definitely have to talk to Ron about it.

"Albus, are you okay?" Scorpius was now trying to help his friend drink a mug of water, which was brought here by an house-elf Draco had summoned, the latter had yet to recover from his choking fit.

* * *

A/N: So I have decided to change the story's summary as the Harry/Albus and Harry/Draco relationships have evolved to become almost as important as the Harry/Scorpius relationship in this story. I would have added Ginny to the list of main characters if five characters are allowed as she has become a crucial character here as well to keep Harry grounded.

Thank you for your support, comments make me very happy, cheers =)


	11. Awkward Breakfast

Considering the older Malfoy had been the one to invite Harry to stay for tea, he was rather reserved throughout the meal, both in his eating and talking. Despite having prepared a mountain of food, Draco only ate a bread roll, some cheese, some apple and a small fruitcake of Molly's that he seemed to have eaten out of politeness.

Made with six fruits such as dates and cherries, nuts like pecans and almonds, with six spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg, Molly's fruitcake was the most flavorful and delicious kind Harry had ever eaten in his life and a firm holiday favourite for all the Weasley households. While Draco seemed to like it, his compliment was not all that enthusiastic, he did turn to Harry after finishing and said, "Please give … Mrs Weasley my thanks for her generous gift, Potter." Harry had a feeling the older Malfoys had used to call the Weasleys names that it was difficult for Draco to address Molly properly.

Scorpius, however, had a completely different reaction to the cake. He had been excitedly talking and giggling with Albus and politely but happily answering Harry's questions but his whole demeanour changed the moment he bit into his cake. He was silent and deep in thought for a minute that made the Potters very anxious.

"Scorpius, what's wrong?" asked an alarmed Albus when he saw Scorpius' shining eyes.

The tears did not fall but the boy wiped his eyes anyway with his sleeves. His happiness seemed a little forced when he answered, "I'm fine, Albus. Really. It's just… my mum used to bake christmas cake when she was much healthier, it was not the same kind as your grandma's so they taste nothing alike though. These are very good and I _love_ them… but eating them kind of make me sad because I miss my mum's… Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Please don't tell her that! Please tell her that I'm very happy and grateful to receive her cakes."

It was heartbreaking to see that even in his sorrow, Scorpius was so desperate in protecting Molly's feelings. Now that Harry thought about it, the boy might have cried the first time because he had been reminded of his mother as well. Instead of giving him a full hug this time, Albus wrapped an arm around Scorpius' shoulder and prompted him to lean towards his shoulder. Harry saw that Draco had placed a gentle hand on Scorpius', but again, he seemed to trust Albus enough to let him do the comforting.

"It's okay for you to feel sad and cry, Scorpius. You don't have to pretend to be happy _all the times_ , and I'm sure my gran would understand even if she knows. No one would ever believe _you_ to be ungrateful." Albus comforted his friend in his most soothing voice while wiping a tear that had finally escaped Scorpius' eye with his napkin. His words seemed to be exactly what Scorpius needed to hear that he looked instantly better even though he would not allow Albus to let go. Harry had never seen such mature sensitivity from his son first-hand and he could not be prouder.

Scorpius resumed eating after a while and said with cake in his mouth, "But this … really" chew, chew, "is… very good!" Albus laughed easily at his friend.

"And I … really am… _very_ … happy!"

"Of course you are." Albus' affection for Scorpius was evident in his voice.

* * *

Harry had tried to stick with tea at the beginning but had given in to the temptations pretty early on in part because he really was hungry and the foods did smell exceptionally good. Also, it was just way easier to deal with the dead air when he had the excuse of eating. He ate some egg, mushrooms and smoked salmon, all of which among the best he had ever tasted.

The adults had made some polite small talk but the atmosphere was undeniably awkward between them.

"Do you like the food, Potter?" While Draco's tone was not unfriendly, he had to be the least hospitable host Harry had ever met. So much for _The Malfoys are always the best in hosting meals and parties_ , but he knew enough to try not to make things difficult for his host.

"They are delicious, even though there's way too much for breakfast. I would be able to eat more if I don't have a family lunch to look forward to."

"Good, I am glad you like them." He said then ate some apple with his _fork and knife_ , before three minutes of silent eating between the former rivals, the boys had been constantly giggling and chatting between themselves though.

"Do you have any plans for the rest of Christmas holiday?" Harry asked his host because this seemed like a safer conversational topic.

"Oh...yes. We are leaving for Southern France in two days. We will spend a week there, including the New Year's Eve." Draco actually looked pleased about the trip.

"You didn't tell me you are going to France, Scorpius!" Albus' pouty lips had returned yet again.

"It's only decided yesterday night so I thought I could tell you today, Albus. I'll definitely buy you something from France though, what would you like?"

His son thought for a moment and said, "Anything except more fancy accessories. They are more suited for you than me."

The blonde boy looked a little hurt, "I thought you liked the ring I got you two years ago. It was not feminine at all and was _such a_ bargain."

"I do like it but I really don't have much opportunity to ever wear a silver engraved ring or to use a twenty-Galleon-handkerchief."

"I guess…" Scorpius recovered and said in his bubbly voice, "but I can always get you chocolates! Sweets always make you happy!"

"Sure, chocolates would be great, except not the 100-piece-gift box please. I couldn't resist the temptations last time and ended up being sick for two days."

The boys were having such a great time bantering with each other that their fathers might as well be invisible. It was funny how a "conversation" between the fathers had so naturally became the sons', the fathers stayed quiet and were perfectly contented with the entertaining back-and-forth between their sons that they even shared a knowing smile.

* * *

Harry had long lost count of how much his son had eaten by the time the Slytherin boys rose from the table, he was going to get into so much trouble for allowing him to eat like that.

"Dad, Albus and I are pretty full. May we retire to my room to play?" Scorpius asked. Harry had to agree with Albus that Scorpius was unnecessarily posh at times.

"Of course. Have fun, Scorpius. And Albus," his son was rather surprised to be addressed, "welcome again and I hope you have a great time here."

"Thank you, Mr Malfoy, especially for a wonderful breakfast."

"You're welc…" Draco's cordial reply was interrupted when Scorpius wrapped his arms around his shoulders. His eyes widened and his words were completely lost in his mouth.

"Thank you so much for the wonderful breakfast, dad! This is already the best Christmas ever! " Scorpius only seemed to realise his interruption when he let go. "Oh… I'm sorry, dad. That's pretty rude of me, isn't it? I am so sorry."

"There is nothing for you to be sorry about, son. It was wonderful." Malfoy's voice sounded suspiciously thick to Harry.

"Great! I'll see you later, dad! And Mr Potter!"

"Have fun, Scorpius. I'll pick you up at noon, Albus."

Albus was about to leave with Scorpius when he turned and pleaded again, "Could you _please_ come back a bit later, dad?"

"I'll try, son, but I can't guarantee anything." Albus looked disappointed but was gone in a second anyway.

"It's pretty amazing that our sons would turn out to be best friends." said Harry with a warm smile on his face.

"Perhaps it is destiny." Draco's response caught him off-guard, it sounded a bit too romantic.

"Can I ask you a question, Draco?"

"Go ahead." His voice and expression betrayed nothing but Harry could tell he was curious.

"What did you think when you first heard that Scorpius had make friends with Albus?"

Harry would be lying if he said that he had not been shocked back then when he had first found out that their two boys had become friends. Albus had sent his first letter home on his second day of school, in which he had told his parents that he had been sorted into Slytherin and casually mentioned that he had found a "best friend", a strange Slytherin boy named Scorpius Malfoy. Harry had not known whether Albus had known anything about the Malfoys' past at the time until Albus' recent account of the boys' first meeting. For Harry's part, he had been okay about the friendship despite having heard of the "Son of Voldemort" rumour at the time, as he had thought it bogus given Scorpius' resemblance to Draco. Also, as alienated as Draco had been from the wizarding public, he had been sure that his former rival had changed. However, he had honestly believed that Draco would have an issue with it that the boys would inevitably be separated soon. It had been a surprise to him to gradually realise that not only had Malfoy been okay with the friendship, he had also gone to great length to be kind to Albus by buying him presents on special occasions and to make him feel welcomed during his visits. Of course, the irony that the boys would ultimately be separated from each other by Harry himself instead of Draco was not lost to him.

"I have thought about a lot of things…" Draco's warm expression had been replaced by a serious one, "but mostly I have felt relieved and grateful."

"Relieved and grateful?" He was so surprised that repeating the words was all he could do.

"Relieved that Scorpius was happy even though he was bullied, grateful that Albus was able to accept him and was willing to stay by his side when he was upset." Harry could hear the emotions in his voice, lately Malfoy's talk had become so heartfelt that it was hard to believe that he was the same prat Harry had known in Hogwarts.

"I didn't know…"

"I had asked him to send me a note as soon as possible but I did not get one until three days after he left. I had a nightmare in which I had returned to Hogwarts and was bullying my little boy myself. It was three days of agony that I almost ended up going there myself to check on him." He looked so pained even by the recollection that Harry felt regretful to have brought this up at the first place.

"I'm sorry…"

"Turned out it had taken him three days to write the letter because... he had been worried about my reaction to the friendship. He had described his friend in details without even telling me his name so I could understand how important Albus had already been to him." Surprisingly, there was a tone of bitterness in Draco's voice.

"Draco… you don't have to tell me if this upsets you."

"Upset is a strong word, but I can't say that it didn't hurt at the time to think that my son could possibly think me capable of separating him from his best _and only_ friend." Harry was awashed with shame thinking that he had thought exactly the same of Draco, not to mention he himself had done that terrible deed.

"Growing up I might have many things, but my parents were not affectionate people. Even though my father would not hesitate to satisfy my material desires, he was simply not a good father. Deep down I had always known that my mother loved me but she cared about my father's opinions too much to show it. I have never been able to feel unadulterated love myself until Astoria and Scorpius. He is one of the best things that have ever happened in my life and I have wanted to be a better father to him than my own had been to me but…" Draco let out an uneasy laugh, "I have always been terrible at articulating my feelings and Astoria had been so good with him that I was contented for her to do the talking for the both of us. Little did I know, I had become the same distant father as my father had been."

* * *

A/N: last bit is a shameless plug of my previous fanfiction "Scorpius' Letter", just kidding :P It's taken directly from that fic but I only did it because I genuinely thought it would be a great topic for the previous rivals to talk about to get them to connect with each other. As I have mentioned in the very beginning, I do envision my version of these characters to be the same ones in my previous stories so times like this can really give them more depth. Feel free to check out that story if you are interested ;)

On a side note, I'm sorry if this chapter's ending is a bit abrupt and awkward. I usually try to end my chapter with a cleaner ending/ cliffhanger but this one is done because I want a relatively consistent range of chapter length and there isn't a good cutoff point for this conversation.

Thank you for all the lovely comments, they make me so happy.

PS: Of course Draco has to eat apple!


	12. New Beginning

"Draco," the grey eyes turned and looked right into his, "I suppose… I owe you an apology." A raised eyebrow. "Back then I had thought exactly the same thing about you when our sons became friends. I swear that I have never truly believed the rumours… so I had genuinely been okay about their friendship… at least until Delphi, even though I had expected Albus to stick with Rose in Hogwarts. But I did judge you unconsciously and expect you to be unhappy to find out that Scorpius had befriended Albus. Also I had been misled by Scorpius' resemblance to you and had expected him to turn out similar to your younger self as well."

The smugness had returned to Draco's voice when he smirked and said, "Why am I not surprised to hear that?"

Harry had tightened his lips. Draco's reaction was not a pleasant one to Harry, after he had tried to give a sincere apology, but he supposed he deserved the teasing.

His host's expression had however turned serious again. "I did not expect or need your apology but I appreciate it nonetheless. However, I do want to ask you, why did you believe I would be unhappy about their friendship?"

 _Prejudice._ The immediate answer that came into Harry's mind was not something he would be proud to admit, he hoped that Draco did not have a secret talent of Legilimency. "Hmm… because you have always disliked me, and because of your father's influence."

"I see," Draco nodded and thought for a moment, "What did you feel when you send your child to Hogwarts?"

It was a simple question but Harry could immediately remember the mixture of emotions he had felt back then when he had sent James off for the first time. It had not been any easier to send Albus and Lily off afterwards. "Worry and nervous excitement… mostly worry."

"Imagine the worry you would have felt had your family been one of the most hated families in the wizarding world that your son would likely be bullied in school with no one to rely on. Imagine your worry if your son were perhaps one of the gentlest souls there have ever been and he were rumoured to be the son of the Dark Lord."

When everything was put into perspectives like this for him, Harry could immediately feel how Draco would have felt back then. No wonder he would be relieved and grateful when he had found out that not only had his boy turned out okay in Hogwarts, he had also found himself a best friend. It also made a lot of sense that when things had gotten bad, Draco had been able to forget his pride to ask for his former enemy's favour to clear the "Son of Voldemort" rumour.

He sighed and said, "I can see your point, Draco... Also, in retrospect, I do think there were things I could have done to help dispel the rumour to make life easier for Scorpius. It's just… I guess I had been the target of so many rumours over the years that I thought I knew it all... It was my misguided belief that inaction would be the best course of action. No child deserves to be an universal target," Draco set his jaw, "especially Scorpius, and I should have known better."

Both Harry and Hermione had taken a lot of heat after the discovery of a Time Turner had become public knowledge, which had been eased to a certain extent by Delphi's arrest. One of the silver linings that came out of that whole disaster was the improvement of Scorpius' situation. While Harry did not know how things were in Hogwarts, the general public seemed to have stopped believing the "Son of Voldemort" rumour, especially because Scorpius had received much recognition for fighting and defying Delphi.

Harry's expression was one of sympathy now, "From what I know, you have been great with Scorpius, despite not being able to show your affections easily. You have obviously been trying and doing better in this regard lately. If anything, you have been a much better father to Scorpius than I have been to Albus, even when they have been most troubled. You should be proud of yourself, especially considering your wife's passing."

Draco looked solemn as he digested Harry's words, Harry was feeling uncomfortable as he replayed his own words in his head and wondered if he had said too much.

"I have never thought there would be a day in which Saint Potter would be sitting in my own dining room trying to comfort me." Harry let out a laugh, he realised he would far rather interact with the usual sarcastic Draco Malfoy than a sentimental or troubled one.

"And for the record, I have not _always_ disliked you. I did try to talk to you at Madam Malkin's and try to befriend you at Hogwarts." Draco had tried to avoid eye contacts with Harry and he was blushing a bit. Coming from Draco Malfoy, he might as well be admitting he actually liked Harry Potter.

"Hmm… thanks. I guess."

The atmosphere was still awkward but Harry decided to make use of this good standing with his host to ask another question anyway, despite him being late for home.

"Draco, can I ask you another question?"

"Do I look like a professor to you, Potter? It is getting annoying that you keep asking this every time before asking a real question."

"Right." Harry was feeling rather dumb and he could feel his cheeks warming up. "Well, it's just my question is a bit personal, so feel free to not answer if you find it intrusive. I am wondering, how is your relationship with your aunt Andromeda?"

Draco was visually taken aback by his question but was not offended. "Hmm… Mrs Tonks had been disowned by the Black family long before my birth that I had never met her before my mother's death."

Harry could clearly heard what had not been said, "So you have met her after Mrs Malfoy's passing?"

Malfoy looked apprehensive as he searched for the words, "After the war, we have been alienated by most other pure-blood families. My mother had been feeling lost and lonely that there was a part of her that had really wanted to reconnect with ...my aunt. She had hinted it a few times but I believe she was too proud and she did not want to displease my father. It was difficult for me but after her death, I decided to reach out to aunt Andromeda as I believed it was something my mother would have wanted, something I would not have been able to do if my father was alive. She...aunt Andromeda has been surprisingly sympathetic and generous to me, a nephew who's essentially a stranger, that she even offered to help with the funeral arrangements. I politely declined but she did show up at the funeral to pay her respects. She also ended up spending some time at the Manor to help sort out some of my mother's Black heirlooms. She has offered to stay in touch but … I have not resumed contact with her afterward."

"I see." Harry sounded a little disappointed.

"Look, I do know it has been rude of me for not trying to repay her kindness… but I am very bad at these… making small talks with relatives, interacting with strangers… that I just could not get myself to write to her when there was no excuse to do so." It was curious that Draco appeared defensive to Harry.

"Easy, Draco. I'm not judging. Andromeda is one of the most considerate and most sympathetic women I have ever known that I am sure she understands why you haven't been in touch. I do think she will appreciate a lot whenever you try to resume contact though."

"Hmm… I will think about it. Anyway, why are you gossipping about my familial relationship?"

"About that… I promise I will answer in a moment after asking you another question."

Draco sighed, "You are doing it again, Potter. Just fire away."

"Okay, how is your relationship with your cousin Teddy?" Harry amended the question immediately as he thought Draco would probably be too proper to recognise the name. "I mean, Edward Lupin."

It took Draco much longer to process the question than the previous one, "Edward… you mean Nymphadora Tonks and Professor Lupin's son?

"Yes. Teddy… I mean Edward, is my godson."

"I think I have heard of it... My family had never acknowledged Nymphadora as my cousin but they did feel humiliated when she married Lupin and gave birth to a half-werewolf. My father had even said some particularly insulting things about the boy both during and after the war."

Harry had instinctively balled up his fist.

"But just as my mother had wanted to reconnect with aunt Andromeda, I believe a part of her did want to return to be part of my aunt's life, even if her life consisted largely of Edward." Harry relaxed his fist. "As for me… growing up aunt Andromeda and my cousin Nymphadora had been either a cautionary tale or taboo depending on the circumstances that I did not want to have anything to do with them before the war. While I have briefly contacted Andromeda after my mother's death, I have never met Nymphadora and Edward. Honestly, I do not know anything about him."

Although Draco's answer had not been very encouraging, something told Harry that he would not mind for Scorpius to establish a relationship with his cousin.

"I see. Draco, I asked about your relationships with Andromeda and Teddy because I would like to see if you would feel okay for me to introduce Teddy to Scorpius."

"Oh."

"You do not have to say yes but I hope you understand that this question in itself is a proof of my trust in you. I was only seventeen when I was named Teddy's godfather and he became an orphan that I could not actually help raise him but I did try to help out whenever and however I can, so I inevitably feel very protective of Teddy. I would not have said this out loud if I have believed you capable of insulting or humiliating my godson in any way because after all, his very existence has probably been a disgrace to your family in the opinions of some members of your family."

He sighed again, "I could not deny the prejudice and false sense of superiority that my father had held on to until his very last breath but I want to make it very clear that my values and ideals have been completely transformed after the war." Draco let out a laugh, "Who are we pureblood elitists to look down upon anyone based on blood status when we are being deservedly looked down upon for our past crimes and misbehaviours anyway?"

"That's… a relief to hear but I don't think you should be too hard on yourself, Draco…" Harry was feeling very uncomfortable that he tried to steer the conversation back on course. "So what do you say about introducing the cousins to each other? You do not have to answer right away but for your information, Teddy was an excellent student in Hogwarts that he even ended up becoming Head boy. He is remarkably well-adjusted for an orphan and literally part of my family now that he is engaged to marry my niece. He has been working at the Ministry ever since graduation and has even gotten promoted recently. He is intelligent, friendly but also witty and fun-loving."

"Well, I think it is a great idea."

Harry could not believe what he had just heard, "You are agreeing for them to meet just like that?"

"Why not?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow, "if he really is as perfect as you have described."

"I suppose I have expected it to be some kind of dilemma to you even though you are not your father. Tonks' family has been a disgrace to your family for so many years after all."

Draco sighed for like the tenth time this morning, "Potter, how can I ever make you understand that Scorpius' happiness is perhaps the only thing that matters in my life now? I hate to see my boy lonely so I am and will always be grateful for Albus' presence in his life but I sure would love for him to have more friends and relatives so he will always be happy and supported. He is very level-headed but it does sound good for him to have a role model that he could talk to."

"Right. This is good news, I'll try to arrange for them to meet perhaps in the summer holiday, or even during the Easter break." Harry had turned to the clock and realised in horror that it was nine twenty. "Oh Merlin, Ginny will be so mad…"

Draco looked amused with a barely-suppressed smirk when he stood up and elegantly led Harry back to the fireplace in the sitting room.

Harry turned to his host before entering the fireplace and said, "Thanks for your hospitality, Draco. The food is really nice."

"You are welcome, Potter. Thank you again for letting Albus visit today, his visit really makes Scorpius' Christmas. Hmm… thank you for staying for breakfast as well."

Harry decided to do something he had debated to do since Godric's Hollow and stuck out a hand to his nemesis of seven years, "I know this is almost thirty years too late, Draco. But I want to accept your offer, if you are willing to give me a second chance."

Draco first looked stunned then turned away from him while he patiently and steadily kept his hand in place. When his host turned back to him, his eyes looked suspiciously shiny and voice sounded suspiciously nasal when he said, "How arrogant of the Saviour to presume that an offer would be kept open for him for thirty years?" before he stuck out his hand to firmly shake Harry's. Harry could see a genuine but the faintest smile on Malfoy's face, which he returned with a grin of his own.

Harry entered the fireplace before turning back to Malfoy and said, "And Draco…"

"Yes?"

"You can call me Harry if you do not mind me calling you Draco." he flooed back to his own home without hearing Draco's response.

* * *

A/N: I loved writing this chapter. It was a beautiful thing to see Harry forming a friendship with Draco in CC after all those years and everything that had happened between them. What has become even clearer for me after CC was how much similarity Harry shared with Draco that IMO, they could form a rather deep bond if they want.

On another note, I apologise in advance for a hiatus of at least 3 weeks before my next update because I have been busy and most importantly, I'll be visiting London for the very first time next week! Guess what? I'm finally going to watch HPCC! Almost flying 13 hours to watch a show is most likely the craziest thing I will have done in my life.

Anyway, thanks again for all the support. Please comment (pretty please?), cheers =)


	13. Arrival in the Burrow

Harry was immediately greeted by the sight of his wife standing right in front of the fireplace with crossed arms and a scowl on her face, at least James and Lily seemed to be in their own rooms. _Oh Merlin_ …

"So… how's tea at the Manor, Harry?"

"It...it was very nice. Actually, Draco has prepared so much food that I could not resist having b-breakfast there myself…" he stammered guiltily.

"I figured… did our piglet have a second breakfast there?"

"Yes… I did try to warn him though."

"I'm guessing you didn't have much success. I have seen how a 'light afternoon tea' looked over there at the Manor." Ginny was still maintaining a humourless expression that he was afraid it would be worse than he had expected.

"You're right. I just hope that he will still be able to eat something at the Burrow."

"It's not like he would ever be able to resist my mum's roast beef, but the problem will be how much he will be able to stomach… Well, what else? What has kept you there so long that could possibly make you _abandon_ your wife and children on Christmas morning?"

"Hmm… I didn't get to talk to Malfoy much until the boys have left to play."

"Oh, so you boys just talked? Or did you cry into each other's arms and become best friends?" She asked with her most dramatic tone.

Harry broke from his guilty and serious expression into a laugh, "Don't be so melodramatic, love."

Ginny's charming teasing smile had returned, "No? Frankly speaking, I am disappointed. I have expected better from you, Harry. Aren't you the one who has loved everyone enough to provide us with the _most_ powerful protective magic by your sacrifice?"

"Not exactly. I mean we didn't cry with each other," _even though Malfoy did look like he had shredded a tear_ , "… but I'm extremely glad to be able to have that conversation with Draco."

"Okay," Harry could see the mischievous light in her eyes, "for punishment, you are banned from sleeping in our room tonight."

"What?" He knew she would be mad but this was still shocking. "On Christmas night?"

"Yes, that will teach you a lesson…" he could totally tell now that she was faking it but he tried to play along to look as regretful as he could manage, "Hmm, on second thought, you are banned unless you agree to two conditions. One: to tell me _everything_ you have talked about with Draco, and two: to give me a full body massage before sleep tonight."

Considering Harry _did_ abandon her to deal with their kids on her own on Christmas morning, it was a no-brainer. He jokingly bowed with one arm behind him and said, "But of course, milady. It is the least I could do."

She shoved him and said, " _Oh Merlin_ , I knew it was a bad idea to let you hang out at the Malfoy Manor. Don't you dare to act all proper in front of me." She laughed a moment after and he could not help from laughing back.

Ginny had been his closest friend and confidante since their marriage that he could tell her anything and trust that she would not repeat these personal conversations to anyone without his consent. They settled on the sofa with him wrapping an arm around her shoulders after she had helped him into his new scarlet jumper and planted another kiss on his mouth, he recounted all that had happened at the Manor in detail to her.

* * *

"All joking aside, I'm truly glad that you two could become friends. This will make things much easier for the boys." she said while toying with his hand after he had finished.

"Me too. I felt too awkward to chat with him in front of the boys but once we were left on our own, he's surprisingly easy to talk to… I guess I have never thought about how similar we have been. I could easily have grown up to be an arse like him had I been raised by Lucius Malfoy of all people."

She grimaced and said, "We will agree to disagree on that but in any case, I have found it impossible to continue to hate on, or even dislike him ever since Albus' first visit to the Manor after his first year. He was so awkward but it was very obvious that he was trying hard to appear welcoming to a young _Potter_ for his son's sake."

Harry was going to respond and they could have talked about the evolution of his relationship with his former nemesis for hours had James not appeared down the stairs at this moment and asked confusedly, "Mum and dad, shouldn't we be going already?"

"Yes! Thank you, love… We've been distracted…" Ginny replied frantically, which earned a skeptical look from their eldest son as she had always been so composed and organised.

* * *

While the remaining Potters were preparing to floo to the Burrows, Harry made sure to say merry Christmas and give a brief hug to both James and Lily. As glad as he felt that Albus' Christmas seemed to be turning out even better than he had expected, he was feeling guilty that he had been going out of his way to please Albus at his other kids' expense that he needed to make sure they would not feel left out and were okay, his big fallout with Albus had happened gradually instead of overnight after all. He was the last to leave his home after making sure all his wards had been activated.

For the second time this morning, Harry was greeted by the lovely sight of hugging after flooing, this time with his wife hugging Charlie and Molly hugging both James and Lily together. He in turn was immediately greeted warmly by his father-in-law with a pat on his shoulder, their conflict seemingly forgotten. After kissing her Potter grandchildren on their heads, Molly released them and turned to envelop her only son-in-law in a loving hug. After that, the Potters turned to greet the rest of their extended family. Harry was surprised to realise that they were not as late as he had believed. Apparently, thanks to Albus' early wake-up call, they had even arrived earlier than usual. Spending a whole hour at the Malfoy Manor really messed up his perception of time. In any case, Bill's, George's and Ron's families had not even arrived yet.

While Molly hurriedly returned to prepare the Christmas feast in the kitchen, Harry volunteered to help Percy and Charlie set up the marquee at the garden, leaving the rest of his family happily catching up with each other. They had begun the practice of eating at the garden whenever the entire extended family was gathered around the time of his marriage as the interior of the Burrow was simply too small. As it was winter, this could only be accomplished with a lot of elaborate preparation which consisted of the moving of many tables and chairs, as well as many warming spells. It was a lot of work that took the men more than an hour to set up even with the help of Bill, George and Ron, who had all arrived within half an hour after the Potters' arrival, but at least it was not snowing. They were so occupied with the setting up that there was barely anytime for them to talk, Harry did answer the question regarding Albus' whereabouts for more times than he had wanted to though, which yielded quite a variety of reactions. Charlie seemed rather cool about the news while Percy expressed disapproval on the Malfoys, which Harry found irritating considering his selling out during the war. Bill seemed understanding, George seemed to find it funny for some reason, while Ron… reacted with a frown and was eerily quiet for the whole time afterwards. Harry had not felt this uncomfortable around his best mate for a long time, which significantly dampened his mood after the surprisingly nice time he had spent with the remarkable progress made at the Malfoy Manor this morning.

By the time they were done setting up, Harry was very glad to return inside to escape the awkward atmosphere and to meet the rest of his family. Upon entering, Hermione immediately enveloped him into a hug, "Merry Christmas, Harry."

"Merry Christmas to you too, Hermione. How's work?"

Her face lit up, "Brilliant, I was able to get everything done by yesterday noon that I would be able to enjoy two and a half days in complete peace."

"That's great." As busy as Harry was in his job, the stress and workload of the Minister for Magic was on a completely different level that he often found himself feeling worried about his best friend.

"Ginny was just telling me how excited Albus was this morning about visiting Scorpius. I am really glad for the boys, they deserve to have a happy and carefree Christmas after all they have been through." It was rare for him to ever find Hermione to be insensitive considering Ron was standing a foot behind him, he instinctively turned to check on him, who was biting on his lips uneasily.

Of course she had followed his glance and seen that, but she simply patted his face to catch his attention, and said, "don't worry about Ron, it's fine."

"Hmm… I'm not so sure about that, Hermione."

Hermione, for her part, was not even looking at him by now. He saw her giving Ron a look, he returned a look but then turned his gaze down, looked back up after a while. She gave him another pointed look while gesturing to Harry with an obvious shake of her shoulder. A whole conversation seemed to have passed between them with Harry sandwiched between the couple and looking back and forth puzzledly. The atmosphere seemed so tense that Harry was starting to feel desperate to escape when Ron finally took a breath and said louder than necessarily, "Mate, could you come with me for a second?"

"Go where?"

"To my room… I mean my old room." He could see Ron's face turning the colour of his hair.

"Hmm… sure." He was not feeling sure at all, but he followed his friend up the narrow staircases to his old bedroom on the fifth floor in awkward silence nonetheless.

* * *

The moment he entered, he was hit by a rush of nostalgia, before bumping his head right onto the ceiling. This reminded him of how even at the tender age of twelve, his head had almost touched its ceiling. He had spent so much of his free time here in his school years that it was almost like returning to a childhood room of his own. Old books of Ron's were scattered on the table and the walls were still thoroughly decorated with Chudley Cannons posters but the orange colour had faded substantially. The Weasleys had, for the most parts, kept their children's rooms the way they had been and not used them for other purposes saved the occasional storage boxes spreaded here and there. It felt comical for Harry to come back in together with Ron as full-grown adults as they looked like giants here despite Harry's short to average stature. He would love to be reminiscing about his teenage years with him if he was not being so… difficult.

Ron had pulled out and turned a chair towards him, he gestured to it like a peace offering "Hmm.. would you like to take a seat, Harry? It would be quite uncomfortable to talk standing in this room now."

"Sure." Harry attempted a tentative smile as he sat on the old wooden chair while Ron making himself almost too comfortable on his childhood bed.

"So… Albus is spending his christmas morning at the Malfoy Manor, huh?"

Harry's face hardened, "What about it?"

"How did it go?" Harry was surprised to see benign curiosity on his best friend's face, instead of annoyance and contempt, that he decided that it might not be too bad to answer honestly.

"Well, I don't think I have ever seen two boys so excited about meeting each other and I felt strangely… proud to see Albus happy. The Malfoy Manor is so different that it actually looks cozy and welcoming, I expected to feel repulsive going back after what we had been through there but the hour I spent there was surprisingly nice. Malfoy is genuinely appreciative about Albus' visit that he made a lot of effort to be a welcoming host." While he was saying the truth, Harry had tried to focus his answer on the boys and his more objective observation, also to talk about Draco in a positive but more neutral light.

"I see."

Although Ron did not appear annoyed or repulsed, he seemed a bit… disinterested by his answer and distracted that Harry was wondering if he had really been listening at all. He was suspicious of his best friend's intentions as he was the one who had requested to talk and had asked the question at the first place. In addition, it was Christmas morning that he would far rather spend the precious time with the relatives that he did not get to meet as frequently as he wanted than being trapped here with a moody best friend he saw all the times. "Ron, can you just say whatever you have wanted to say? I would gladly chat with you about anything another time but there are some of our families downstairs whom I barely got to meet in months that I would like to say Merry Christmas to."

Ron did not respond directly to Harry's demand, instead he said, "Hermione gave me a piece of her mind the other day after returning home with our kids."

"Hermione? A piece of her mind… about what?"

"About how Rose should be allowed to befriend and should she choose to, to date whoever she like, without worrying about her embarrassing father's reactions."

"Oh." So this was what it was about, Harry was actually relieved to hear this. Ron had no real say about his choice to become friends with Draco Malfoy but he did not want to upset his friend by rubbing this in his friend's face either. As much as he liked his best mate, it could be tiring at times to deal with a friend who could be so prone to jealousy and who hold on to past grudges for this long.

"Also about how I should be more supportive of you regarding... the ferret because it's beneficial for you two to become friends for you to repair your relationship with Albus. She actually said, 'Harry has enough to deal with to help Albus who could have been traumatised for life without worrying about his immature friend's reaction.'"

"Oh… I see." A lot of times Harry wondered how his life would have turned out without Hermione Granger, who was the most awesome and supportive friend anyone could ever asked for. She was an observant problem-solver who could see a problem from miles away and would take initiatives to act upon it despite the troubles. Although Harry could not tell how Ron felt about his newly-formed friendship with his former nemesis, the fact that Hermione had talked to him about this could only mean that this would turn out well after all. However, her choice of words were kind of brutal to him as the last thing he would want to remember was the possibility that his son could be scarred for life from his adventures the way he had been. In her defense, that sentence was not meant for him to hear though. Also, he could not help feeling bad for Ron as it was obvious that he did not look too happy to be schooled by his wife about this.

* * *

A/N: I'm back! Sorry for the long wait but my trip has tired me out so much and it was hard to pick up my writing again. This chapter is longer and I hope you would like the change of scenery. (I have the tendency of focusing on a conversation for too long in my stories)

Thank you again for your support, especially your lovely comments on both the story and my watching of the play. Please comment =)

I'm flattered that pottermum requested me to share my thoughts on the show so I'll share a quick few words here but I have actually posted a detailed note on the show on Tumblr, so feel free to check it out if you are interested. (account on bio)

(I have never done this before and feel free to skip reading if you are not interested) I was very lucky that I went on a day when the performance was filmed for archive purpose that the entire original cast was on. The acting was great all around but I was actually very surprised by how different Anthony's Scorpius was from my expectation (especially his voice), my favorite performances were Sam's Albus and Alex's Draco. The production values of the show were insane and it was magical indeed to watch all the stage effects live. But watching the show gave me different impressions on some characters that part of me questioned if I have been interpreting them wrong. Also, I got to go to the stage door and it was absolutely lovely to meet some of the cast.


	14. Brothers' Talk

Ron continued, "You know, for a long time, I had been living under someone's shadow. First it had been all my brothers, who had achieved anything a student could possibly achieve in Hogwarts, Prefect, Head Boy, Quidditch Captain, a dozen of O.W.L.s, you name it... Then it was you, the Boy who lived…the youngest Quidditch player in a century, the wizard who had defeated Voldemort two times in his first two years in Hogwarts, I tried… and I truly was happy for you for the most part, but a little jealousy had always been there even though I had tried so hard not to show it. The two times I had let it got the better of me, I ended up doing something I regretted. I have been feeling rather jealous again lately and I want to be honest with myself before letting history repeats itself… even though I doubt I would let myself do anything remotely as stupid as before."

Of course Harry knew what Ron was referring to when he talked about the two times he acted out of his jealousy: their fallout after Harry had become the fourth Champion in the Triwizard Tournament and the time Ron had deserted them in the forest during their quest to destroy the Horcurxes. He had been angry at him both times at the time but in retrospect, it was extremely understandable why his friend would succumb to his jealousy that he could not truly fault him for what could only be considered as human nature. Ron had always seemed so easy-going, especially after he had quit being an Auror and gotten married with Hermione, that Harry knew to give him his full attention when he was willing to open up about his feelings.

"Even I have to admit I was being rather immature and irrational when I first got jealous this time around, when the ponytail got so involved with the investigations alongside with you guys the times Albus and Sc...his boy got missing… while I was basically completely outside the loop. Then it was at the Extraordinary General Meeting when he joined you lot on stage before I had even thought of doing so. But then it only got worse when he showed up in Godric's Hollow and there wasn't even a hint of awkwardness between you two, it almost felt like he _belonged_ there more than I did... and both you and Hermione seemed protective of him regarding his illegal ownership of the Time Turner. You know that I have tried to show him my dislike for seeing him there and of course that didn't work well. I felt ridiculously jealous and insecure that he actually seemed to work and get along well with both Hermione and you. So, when I heard that you visited him with Albus on Christmas morning of all days, it made me think that you two seem to be legit good friends now… or are you?"

It was so rare to see Ron so insecure that Harry tried to articulate his feelings and opinions of Draco as accurately as possible. "It's my hope to become better friends with Malfoy in times but I couldn't confidently call him a real friend until this morning. The visit was initially all about the boys but he had shown a different side of him today that told me he deserves a second chance."

"Would you think of me as a terrible friend if I said I'm relieved?"

"Of course not!"

"Well, I'm relieved. You know mate, I could never be as forgiving as you or Hermione. Strangely enough, of all the bad things Malfoy had done, it was not all his insults to my family or even his almost murder of me that I don't believe I could ever get over with, it was his repeated uses of _that_ word to Hermione."

"It makes sense, and you're right, you do have a stronger reason to continue to dislike him after all these years with the poison… and with Hermione."

"Hmm… and I could never be as noble as you are either."

"Noble?" This threw Harry a little, Ron had been right there by his side in so many of their "adventures" that to him, he was as much a hero as most people believed Harry to be.

"Yes. I would not have minded to let him die in the Fiendfyre inside the Room of Requirement at all if it's not for you."

"But you didn't… I think in a way, to risk your life to help even though you did not want to do so made you even more admirable. It doesn't make you any less of a hero for not wanting to risk you survival to save an enemy."

"Hero… I like the sound of that, I have never seen myself in that light. It's easy with you and Hermione… but not me." Ron had always appeared so confident with himself that this was somewhat a surprise to hear.

"You are featured on the Chocolate frog cards, what more of a confirmation do you want?"

Harry had expected Ron to laugh but he only managed a very weak one, before saying, "What I am trying to say is that, I don't think I can ever see myself becoming friends with Draco Malfoy, at least not at this stage.

"I would not expect you to."

"That being said… even I have to admit that he is different from the way he used to be." These words had appeared extremely difficult for Ron to let out, but they confirmed that Ron had indeed had a change of opinions about Draco, making it easier for Harry to try putting in words in Draco's favour.

"Yes... When he showed up at my office with the Time Turner, he was trying to make me search in time with him regardless of how long it would have taken. If you could see the determination and desperation in his eyes…"

"Which made him an idiot…" "Ron, that's not the point…"

"A loving and dedicated father but a complete ignorant idiot indeed." Someone else might be confused about whether this was meant to be a compliment or an insult, but knowing his friend, Harry knew it was perhaps the biggest compliment Ron would ever be able to pay Draco.

"So do you mean that you are okay about me making friends with Draco." Harry liked calling Draco by his first name, and now that Ron appeared to actually feel okay about this friendship, he no longer felt the need to revert to the uses of Draco's last name for Ron's benefits.

He let out a little snicker through his nose and said, "Mate, when do you ever need my permission to make friends with someone? And apparently, you two are already friends." He did not sound bitter but not too happy either.

"True, I don't need your permission, but I don't want this to come between us to create a rift either. I have decided to become his friend whether you like it or not, but I'm asking you how you feel about it out of respect."

Ron actually took a moment to consider, before saying with a shrug of his shoulders, "I'm okay, if that's what you like." Harry breathed out a relieved sigh, before Ron said, "On one condition though, that the ferret can _never_ replace me as your best mate."

Harry laughed affectionately, "Now bro, I don't believe _anyone_ could ever replace you."

"That's true, I'm one of a kind." They were laughing easily now. "I don't think you have ever called me bro before, or have you? Strange to think that technically, we _are_ brothers."

"Brothers as well as best mates." There was something that had bothered Harry for a while that he did not dare to address until now. "By the way, Ron, I don't think it's fair for you to call Draco 'the ferret' though. He was definitely being an arse at the time but Barty Crouch Jr. had no right to turn him into a ferret at all. You would be pissed if someone call you 'slug' or something behind your back that reminded you of a humiliating incident after all these years…"

Ron looked visually deflated, "I see how it's, so you are defending him against me already…"

"That's not true, I'm saying this because this is… childish and… mean…"

"I guess." Harry did not know what to say now, he hated destroying the peace and understanding that had taken them quite some time to reach but it would have been wrong for him to just stand by to let Ron called Draco, who had changed so much over the years, insulting names.

"But I can call him ponytail, right?"

Harry was relieved that Ron was not truly pissed. He thought "ponytail" over and decided it was a rather objective nickname, not malicious like "the ferret". "Well, sure… if you want to."

"Good… I don't know about you but I remember thinking 'that ponytail is absolutely ridiculous' the first time I saw _ponytail_ sporting that look. Like seriously, what was ponytail thinking? It still hasn't grown on me at all after all these years." Ron seemed to need no warming up using this nickname.

"Hmm… I guess." Harry remembered being surprised by that look when he had first seen it because all things had indicated that Draco would like to break through the mould Lucius had shaped him into that it had not make sense to him for him to take up a look that made him look more similar to his father than ever. However, Harry had actually thought it suited his former rival really well and made him look very stylish that he thought it wise to keep his mouth shut.

"I take it you didn't think it looked ridiculous at all." he said drily. "Anyway, there's something else I would like to ask you."

"Oh, what is it?" Harry was actually very glad to be moving on from this topic.

"So you are getting along well with the Malfoy boy now, huh?" Harry would not consider this "something else" when they were still talking about the Malfoys and he could totally see where this was going.

"Not as well as I hope, I hope he could feel as comfortable around me as I had felt around your parents in my teenage years someday. The truth is, I still owe him an apology."

"Why? What did you do? He didn't seem angry at you on the platform at all." Ron said with a puzzled look.

"No, he has actually been extremely polite and sweet when I saw him…" Thinking about how excited Scorpius was this morning almost brought a smile to his face, "but that doesn't mean he does not deserve an apology for the way I have treated him. Separating a motherless and bullied child from his only friend was downright cruel and giving an apology is the least I can do."

"If you put it that way, I guess you do." There was an awkward silence as Ron seemed to debate if it was a good time to ask his question. "Mate, I do not want to appear insensitive or anything, but seeing that you do seem to get along fine with Scorpius, I'm hoping you can tell me if you think there's a chance Rose would get together with him."

"Really, Ron? You seriously think it's a good idea to gossip about your daughter's relationship with me while hiding out here when all our family is gathered for Christmas? Wait till Hermione hears about it."

He panicked and said, "No, you won't!"

Harry shrugged and said, "Maybe I will."

"No, you won't. And don't pretend you won't do the same if Lily is the one looking all mischievous sending a present to a boy she befriended recently, a boy who happens to have the biggest crush on her for years… Don't get me wrong, I do think that the Malfoy boy is a good kid, as far as Malfoy goes, and his actions during the Time Turner incidents were absolutely admirable…"

"But?"

"But he's still a Malfoy and still _ponytail_ 's son." Ron blurted out as if this was the most scandalous thing.

"I fail to see that as a concern at all."

"So you would feel okay if say… Lily or Albus starts dating him?" Ron challenged.

That was a strange way for Ron to phrase the question but he took a moment to consider, the possibility had never occurred to him but he thought it would be hard-pressed to ever find a child as kind as Scorpius was. He might feel differently if this was actually happening but he thought, his biggest worry when it came to the future partners of his children would be how much they would love his children and Scorpius' sensitivity told him that he would be more capable of loving another person than the majority of kids his age, actually the majority of all people, so he said, "I think so, if anything, I don't believe it would be easy to find a boy who would treat my child as well as he would, which is one of the most important things in a relationship, ahead of someone's name or who he is related to... that is, if he ever become a partner to one of them."

His friend laughed nervously, "Easy, father-in-law, I didn't realise you like the kid _that_ much."

"I am just giving my honest answer to _your_ question."

"Yes, my bad. Anyway, we have hidden away from everybody long enough, let's get down. In any case, I'm truly glad that things are going well between you and Albus." Ron seemed eager to end that topic now that he realised he could not get Harry to his side, without receiving a real answer to his Rose question.

* * *

"Hey Harry?" They were halfway down the stairs when Ron tried to talk with him again.

"You wouldn't by any chance have invited ponytail to tonight's party, would you?" Harry turned to look at his friend and could tell that he looked genuinely concerned.

"What do you take me for, Ron? Of course I would not have invited someone into _your_ house without your consent."

Ron laughed with relief, before saying, "I don't know, 'cos I got the impression that you enjoyed your morning there a lot."

"I did. But friendships take time, we made real progress this morning but I would prefer not to rush it. It may be hard to believe but he has appeared glad for _my_ visit, not just Albus. Anyway, I doubt he would have said yes even if I have asked. He actually seemed … rather shy..."

"You know, if I hear you talk about him like that enough I may actually be brainwashed into liking him." This statement briefly made Harry felt hopeful before he realised that Ron was joking, but the fact that he was not objecting to Harry's friendship was enough for Harry to count his blessings.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for the reply, please comment if you like =)

PS: I'm glad that some of you have enjoyed my thoughts about the play.


	15. The New Weasley

Upon returning to the Burrow's sitting room with Ron, Harry immediately noticed a tall Weasley-red-haired young man he had trouble recognising without seeing his face, who seemed to have arrived just now and was being surrounded by almost a dozen of his family members. Harry found his mouth involuntarily curled up into a smile when the face came into view.

"Teddy! I almost didn't recognise you there." While his godson had loved to change his hair colour all the times since he had been an infant, sometime as many as thirty times a day, Harry felt surprised to realise he had rarely seen Teddy in mundane hair colours other than blonde and his natural light brown hair. He had shown up one year in "Christmas tree"-coloured hair, which was green colour with dozens strands of highlights of a variety of colours, it had been so popular among his family that since then, he would be obliged to appear in that look at least thrice on Christmas every year.

The young man's face brightened the moment he saw his godfather, "Harry! Merry Christmas! I've missed you."

Their family now rapidly dispersed to let the godfather through to greet him. Teddy pulled Harry into a tight hug naturally, which Harry returned with equal affection. He had not seen his godson for more than a month, the longest it had been since Teddy's graduation, as he had been busy repairing all the damages caused by Delphi while Teddy had been busy with work since his promotion.

After releasing the new ginger boy from the hug, Harry gave Teddy a fatherly pat on his shoulder while he turned to greet Ron with a handshake and a half-hug, his best friend teased, "Teddy, as good as it's to see you, I must say, I'm personally offended by your look."

"Oh really? It's James idea. He said that I should show up in ginger hair so I can pretend to be a Weasley, to see how well I will fit into the family."

Harry laughed, "What kind of nonsense is that? You have been part of the family even before Vic's birth."

"True, I know it's kind of ridiculous but it just sounded fun. I don't think I have changed into this colour for fifteen years or so, during my early years visiting the Burrow. It just made sense to change at the time when you were being surrounded by almost ten gingers."

"Fun? Teddy, you should have gone all the way if you really would like to see how well you'll fit. How dare you pretend to be a Weasley without the freckles? I'm sure you had done a better job playing a Weasley as a toddler, I believe mum still has photos kept from those visits." Ron challenged while Harry felt contented to play bystander.

"You didn't say?" Teddy smilingly and effortlessly changed his face from spotless to completely freckled.

"I take it back, boy. You simply can't carry the ginger hair nor the freckles. You have no hope in becoming one of us. I would rather take your 'Christmas tree' anyday."

Teddy pretended to look hurt by pouting his lips while reverting his changes and said, "That was harsh, Ron." He was now sporting his natural brown hair.

"Don't be an arse, uncle Ron." Victoire had somehow danced her way to Teddy's side and placed a delicate hand lovingly onto her fiancé's arm. They shared a look before Teddy giving the stunning blonde a quick kiss on the mouth.

"Who are you calling an arse, Vic? That's highly disrespectful of you to call your favourite uncle that." Ron retorted in mock irritation.

"As far as uncles go, I believe you are almost my least favourite…" She pretended to think for a moment before leaning close to Ron's ear and whispered with her sweet voice, "at least I like you better than uncle Percy."

Ron fumed, "It's an insult for you to put me in the same sentence…"

By now Harry was feeling a strong need to intervene as he would far rather doing some real catching up with Teddy in this precious time than seeing Ron bantering with… well, anyone who cared enough. "Ron, I haven't seen my godson for weeks so if you don't mind, I would prefer to talk with them about the wedding, their work to… whatever you like to argue about."

"Fine… So, have you two lovebirds decided when to have the wedding?"

"Not yet but we prefer to have it either in the summer holiday or close to next year's Christmas, so Al, James and the rest of them in Hogwarts, as well as Vic's French relatives, will be able to attend… Speaking of which, I don't think I have seen Al yet, where's he?"

"Oh… I let Albus visit his best friend at his home this morning. You'll be able to meet him at lunch after I have picked him up."

"You mean… Scorpius, right? I have read so much about the boy from Al's letter that I feel like I have known him personally. Gran has met him once and said that he seemed like the sweetest kid."

Albus had always been closer to Teddy than most of his cousins, which had been even more the case since his sorting into Slytherin as all of his cousins were Gryffindor while Teddy had been different. It had been a small relief for Harry that even through his difficult years, Albus had maintained regular contact with Teddy and to Albus, Teddy had been at times more of a brother than James. "Yes, this is perfect…" It would have been the perfect time for Harry to tell his godson his plan had Ginny not reached Harry at this moment with a flustered look.

"Finally! There you are! I have been looking for you for a long time. Harry, it's almost time for lunch, why don't you go and give mum some help?"

Harry would very much like to stay to talk with his godson but at seventy, his mother-in-law was doing what should have been at least a four-people-job even with the help of magic, cooking for thirty people. Stubborn that she was, Molly Weasley would never agree to hire a house-elf, even one that was treated humanely. In fact, she refused to let almost anyone into her kitchen other than a selected few that it had actually been an honour for Harry for being allowed to help, even though she would nonetheless constantly try to take away the work from him.

"Hmm… sure, I'll go right away. Teddy, I'll talk to you later." Harry rushed to the kitchen after giving the young couple a lingering look.

* * *

Upon entering the kitchen, Harry found his best friend carefully arranging a large tray of salad with greens, tomatoes, fruits and so on. He noticed that she was also cooking a large pot of soup which was charmed to be stirred constantly by a large spoon. He had always found it curious that even though Ron was the one who took care of his household for the most part, it was Hermione the Minister for Magic his mother-in-law would trust enough to help with her Christmas feast, the most important meal of her year.

"Hi, Harry. This salad should be ready soon, you can take it out along with the cold cuts and biscuits in a minute." His friend said without even looking up from the salad. Usually they liked to have some of these appetisers out early with the drinks while Molly was finishing up with the other dishes.

"It's so nice of you to come to help, Harry dear!" Molly Weasley greeted fondly even though he had helped her with the meal every year. She had been checking on the roast beef when he entered that she did not see him coming.

While waiting for Hermione to finish up with the salad, Molly asked, "So Harry, is Albus going to stay at the Malfoy Manor with the poor kid the whole day?"

"Oh, no… I will pick him up when everything is ready here. I believe he should at least meet and spend some time with his own family on Christmas. Besides, Albus has woke us up early that he has been there since eight ten, I would say five hours should be more than enough time for a friend on Christmas."

"From what I hear, it doesn't sound like even an entire day would be too much for those poor boys to play. I did mean it when I said Albus could spend as much time with the Malfoy boy as he wanted today. They deserve it." She said understandingly while magically transferring a large pan of sauteed potatoes onto a large plate.

She continued after pausing for almost a minute. "But of course... I do miss him much after everything that had happened, what horrors those children have endured. Such a sweet kid, Albus has sent me flowers for Christmas… I… I just can't imagine what could have been..." She was getting very emotional which almost sent him into a panic.

Harry wrapped his mother-in-law in a tender hug to console her, he noticed that Hermione had finished with the salad and the soup and had proceeded to levitate both the salad and the cold cuts out herself to give them some privacy after shooting him a pointed look. "Molly, I can promise you that Albus is fine… You would not have any doubt yourself if you could see how excited he was this morning. I have never seen him this happy for years and he's doing much better in school as well."

She sniffed loudly once before taking a few deep breaths to calm down before pulling away from him. "Sorry, Harry dear, I didn't mean to worry you. It's just… Christmas always reminds me of Fred…" He suspected that a reason why she insisted to do almost everything herself on Christmas was to distract herself from the grief she would inevitably feel in this holiday.

"It's fine… perhaps you should go out and take some fresh air. It looks like you are almost done with everything, I should be able to finish them up for you."

She purposefully moved to the soup to taste it, before saying, "Don't worry about it, Harry. I am okay… But I have been meaning to ask, are _you_ okay?"

Harry was genuinely shocked to see how she had turned the table, "Me? Of course I'm, Molly. Why would you be worried about…"

She interrupted in a surprisingly stern tone, "What the boys had endured were absolutely terrible… but in my opinions, even that could not be compared to a child witnessing his own parents' murders. I must say, I could not understand what you were all thinking… haven't you witnessed enough terrors and deaths? You have always been a strong and brave child, but anyone could break at some point given enough traumas."

He was feeling a hundred of emotions at once that he was speechless for what felt like minutes. He sort of looked down and could not bring himself to look at Molly Weasley while she quietly resumed her cooking. He truly felt grateful for her love and concern as she was the only mother figure he had ever have but he was also feeling very frustrated by her question as he did not believe there was any way for him to adequately explain the need he had felt to witness the murders himself and he did not like to still be treated as a "child" at forty years old. He did not regret that decision to witness the deaths in itself but he did feel regretful for exposing the boys to that too, considering they had already witnessed Craig's death, as well as being tortured and almost killed by Delphi. He also felt guilty for putting Molly and all his loved ones through the worries and pain.

He began tentatively, "Molly…" He did not know whether she was trying to hide her emotions from him or she was angry at him but she refused to turn towards him.

"I get why you would be upset about my decision to witness my parents' deaths... And words can't describe how much I appreciate your love and presence in my life for all these years. But… it was an inner voice that had told me that I had to do that. It was nothing like my Horcurx… more like a gut feeling. I couldn't explain it at the time but looking back, I think there had been a part of me that had remained a traumatised, scared child inside because I had never truly been able to move on from my parents' deaths…"

His mother-in-law had turned with a softened expression and pressed a hand on his, he could see tears threatening to fall from her eyes when she said, "You don't have to talk about this, Harry dear… I am sorry I made you to."

He could feel his eyes almost burning but he resisted the urge to cry, "No, I want to." She seemed to debate a little before giving him a nod.

"Growing up I was told by the Dursleys that my parents were terrible parents … I had never truly believed that but I did not know anything about them either that I could only mourn for my loss, but not for them as people. Since the first day I was thrown into the wizarding world, I had been told over and over again that I looked like my father, except for my mother's eyes… I was a great Quidditch player, just liked he was… and so on. I loved hearing those at the time but they didn't truly help me know them at all. I had idealised them so much that I felt hurt when I found myself believing Snape that James was an arrogant jerk when I saw that memory of them harassing Snape. It made me felt doubtful about whether I had known anything about them… him at all. I've seen them through the Mirror of Erised, Voldemort's wand and the Resurrection Stone but somehow, they had always felt like an imagination of mine. Throughout my school years, I had felt sad for their deaths but somehow detached because I didn't feel I know enough about them."

It was emotionally draining to bare his soul to anyone, even if he did love and trust this person, but he wanted to be understood that he forced himself to continue, "You were right that witnessing their deaths was pure agony and torture to me but," Harry saw Molly flinched but pressed on, "I needed this… It was through this that I was finally able to feel connected to them enough to mourn them properly, to cry my heart out for them, the way they deserved, and it was through proper mourning that I was finally able to truly move on from their deaths."

There was an awkward silence after as Harry looked into Molly's shining eyes then looked away when he realised she was too emotionally overwhelmed to reply. He had just done transferring the soup into a large serving bowl and was ready to levitate it out when she spoke up, "I still can't agree with your decision… completely but I am so glad that you are feeling better. You seem to look happier and less troubled these days."

He turned towards her and hesitated a little before reaching out to give her a brief hug.

"You know Harry dear, even after so many years, I would feel like bursting out crying sometimes looking at George... thinking he's how Fred would look like had… Moving on from a loved one's death is never easy, even for a seventy-year-old."

Harry suddenly got the impression that she had grown older within the past ten minutes. Looking at her, he understood that no word needed to be said so he acknowledged her grief with a solemn nod.

* * *

A/N: Sometimes I do wonder what I have gotten myself into. At this rate I feel like I would end up writing about every member of the Weasley-Potter clan, just kidding. It's hard to believe what has started out as "a nice line I could throw in into a Harry/Ginny conversation" is evolving into an integral subplot in the story. I do hope that you would enjoy it though because as hard as this could be at times, I truly love writing this.

I have seriously considered not posting anything this week as I have been having writer's block lately. When I first started, I had expected this to be rather short that I had not been able to anticipate how long a commitment this would become to me. My updates may be relatively short but they are pretty time-consuming for me but I do want to see this finished the way it deserves to be written. Could use some love, please comment.


	16. The Pact

It was one ten by the time Harry and Hermione had finished up the cooking and food preparation with Molly and had transferred everything out to the marquee and cast all the necessary spells to keep the food warm with the help of Bill. Harry was very glad to see that his mother-in-law seemed to have recovered from her outburst of emotions. She was now affectionately greeting and catching up with everyone she had not been able to earlier. Amid all the chitchats, laughters and banterings among his extended family, he found his wife and caught her by her arm.

"I'll floo to the Malfoy Manor now to pick up Albus, love." He had to speak close to her ear as it was extremely noisy there. The marquee made the noise even louder than it would be inside the house. She did not even bothered to answer because of the noise, choosing to give him a nod of approval instead. Anyone who saw them now would have interpreted this to be one of those intimate moments between the couple.

It was such a big contrast to return to the house now that it was empty and unnaturally quiet as everyone was outside. He realised he might not be able to access the Floo at Malfoy Manor from here despite having mentioned that he would floo from the Burrow, so he flooed home first before flooing to the Manor.

* * *

Harry accidentally bumped onto the side of the fireplace when he arrived, which got soot onto his glasses and temporarily blinded him. He took off the glasses and rubbed his eyes with the inside of his robe without looking up.

"Ah, there you are, Potter. I was beginning to wonder when you will come." Again Harry felt disappointed by Draco's use of "Potter", but it took him another half minute to shove the glasses back on, get out of the fireplace to look at his host.

"Hello again, Draco." Malfoy was now standing right in front of the fireplace with his hands clasped together in front. He was wearing the exact (very uncomfortable) outfit as he was in the morning. Harry noticed that an armchair was positioned right behind of him with an opened Daily Prophet lying on top. He realised Draco must have been waiting for him for a while in front of the fireplace. "Have you been waiting for long?"

"Not for long. I mean, I am not waiting here for you specifically but I have not been here for long. This is my preferred place for my daily reading." He replied awkwardly with a slight blush. Harry could not help suspecting that Draco had been staying in this room the whole time since he had been gone.

"Okay." There was a time when Harry would feel tempted to tease his former nemesis in circumstances like this, but he decided to let it go. "I suppose the boys are in Scorpius' room? Would you mind letting them know I am here?"

Unexpectedly, Draco looked embarrassed and a bit guilty when he hesitantly replied, "About that… they have actually gone to the garden at about eleven forty. I told them they should have gone earlier had they wanted to go, knowing that you were supposed to return any minute. They insisted that they had forgotten the time but I am sure they have purposely waited till the last minute to ask to buy them more time. I relented when I saw Scorpius pleading with me with _those_ eyes." Harry only had to think of Albus' puppy eyes from the morning to understand how impossible it must have been to say no.

"I see… So I suppose we will have to go look for them now?" Harry was not too keen on going out to the snow again and would love to send his Patronus to call Albus. But he believed that Draco was incapable of conjuring the Patronus Charm, it could be a sore point of his that sending his stag flying around the Malfoy's ground might offend his host.

"I am sorry to have appeared uncooperative, Harry. I know I should not have agreed but I could not resist when they said they had not played together in the snow before… They have promised to come back inside within an hour but they must have lost track of time..." Harry was surprised that not only had Draco not appeared to have heard his question, he also seemed nervous that Harry would blame him. It occurred to him that Draco might be worried that he might not want to send Albus back next year, believing that Draco had delayed Albus' return intentionally. As he was so occupied with these thoughts, it had taken him some time to realise that his former nemesis had finally called him Harry and to process what he had just heard.

"It's okay, Draco. But did you just say the boys had not played together in the snow before?" The Hogwarts ground would be covered in snow plenty and the boys had known each other for too long that it sounded almost impossible that they had not played together on the ground in winter before.

"Hmm… yes, from my understanding, they always try to maintain a low profile in Hogwarts to avoid the bullies, so they had not played in the snow before. And this is the first time they got to meet outside of school in the winter."

"That makes sense, but I guess we will have to go look for them now since they clearly would not come back in anytime soon on their own. Or is there a way for you to call them?"

Draco hesitated for a moment before replying, "No, we will have to go find them… or you can wait here while I go out to fetch for them. I could have a house-elf bring you water or a drink."

"No, that's fine, we can go out together." Judging from how nervous Draco had appeared, Harry was sure he would have brought them right in without further delay, but part of him was very curious about the Manor's grounds and the boys' first play in the snow. All of his children had used to play together in the snow every year when they had been younger that just the mention of this immediately brought forth a lot of cherished memories of Harry's. Unfortunately, it had not been the same for the last few years as Al had outgrown that much sooner than his siblings, or so he had thought.

* * *

Harry was glad to have followed his host the moment he stepped outside. Despite the presence of the blanket of snow, which he estimated to be less than two feet thick as it had only been snowing the night before, it was sunny but not too bright, too cold nor windy, it was no wonder to him that the boys would go out to play in such weather. The ground of the Manor was massive with thick snow-topped hedges that it was extremely easy for him to forget the scary time he was brought in through the doors. It was very nice out here that it took Harry a while to realise a potential problem.

"Draco, your garden is very nice but it was huge, it may take us more than an hour to walk through the whole garden. Do you know where the boys are?"

"Not the exact location but a fair approximate one."

"Good." Harry wanted to say something more but walking in the snow with him felt surprisingly intimate to chat casually. They walked for a minute in complete dead air.

"Draco, do you remember me asking you how Scorpius had been doing on the platform?"

"Of course. Why?" He looked impassive but sounded slightly curious.

"I was asking because I have been worried that the boys might be traumatised by what they have witnessed and experienced. I have never wanted my own kids to ever have to witness death and t… , especially at such a young age. Albus seems to be doing fine but I've been trying to keep an eye on him. According to him, Scorpius had been okay in school as well. But I think it would be better… if both of us can try to make sure they are truly fine."

Draco had been listening intently. He furrowed his brow and said, "Of course I have been trying to make sure they are fine. I do care about Albus very much, he is important to my boy thus important to me as well." He paused for a beat before continuing, "and Harry, were you trying to talk about the torture?"

Harry could feel his heart sink, the Cruciatus Curse was of course one of the reasons why he had wanted to look out for the boys, but it was not something he was ready to address in front of Draco since he had speculated that the former Death Eater had already learnt about that. He had almost mentioned it just now but had hoped that Draco would not notice his slip-up. For this once, he kind of hoped that Draco had called him _Potter_ instead. "I was actually hoping that we would not have to talk about it, I have been afraid that you would blame Albus for Scorpius' torture."

He sneered, "She is a dark witch, of course she did what dark witches or wizards do best, to hurt someone with his love. It was not Albus' fault that he cares for Scorpius' life more than his own." Harry tried not to think about Sirius, it had been his love for his godfather that had led him to the Department of Mysteries and it had been Sirius' love for himself that had brought him to the Ministry, and had ultimately got him killed. "It just so happened that his friendship was also his weakness, at least it was for _her_."

It appeared to Harry that Draco did know all the details about that night, which he was understandably curious about, that he was tempted to ask Malfoy for the details but decided against it out of respect for his son. He had faith that Albus would tell him all about that night when he was ready and needed to talk about it.

"Still... I believe Albus has been feeling guilty because of that. Sometimes, the guilt of causing someone else suffering, even indirectly, could be much worse than the actual suffering itself." This was something Harry knew way too much about.

"You can let him know that I don't blame him, if it could make him feel any better." Draco's tone had softened, he seemed lost in thought for a while, "I will never be able to forget that night when Scorpius recounted to me what had happened… I was… weeping when I realised what she had done, but it was also the proudest I have ever felt for my son, that is saying much as I have always been very proud of him since his birth. Despite how he looks, Scorpius has been much stronger than I have ever been. He has the strength and bravery to openly defy her… Merlin! Imagine if Scorpius had been sorted into Gryffindor instead! It would have been worth it just for the reaction of my father." Harry was surprised to see a smirk on Draco's face, but then he looked sober again.

"The more I think about it, Scorpius seems to fit all four houses except Slytherin, they really should get that mouldy old hat checked or replaced. Anyway, my little boy was ready to sacrifice his life to stop a murderous witch while I had been a coward the whole time in the war, and I had been much older than him too."

"Well… not the whole time." Draco was looking at him uncertainly.

"They would have us killed immediately and all would have been over had you identified me in the Manor. Someone else might buy it but I know that there was no way in hell that you could not recognise me. Your family was in disgrace with Voldemort at this point that surely your refusal to identify me could have cost you." Harry said firmly, it was something they had never talked about but in a way, he had always believed it to be destiny that Draco had a part to play in Voldemort's downfall, even if it was indirectly through his wand.

They were nearing an opening of the huge hedge when Draco responded, "That… was nothing compared with what my son did. But for the record, I do prefer this world to the world Scorpius has seen, despite the prejudices and rumours. It was _terrifying_ to live here with the Dark Lord…" Harry caught sight of Draco unconsciously stroking his left forearm with his right hand while mentioning Voldemort. "So I guess there was a part of me that had secretly rooted for you to kill him."

They crossed the opening together and Harry found himself standing in front of a large greenhouse. "You have a greenhouse in your garden?"

"It was my wife's idea, she was talented in Herbology and she loved all kinds of flowers. She used to spend hours inside daily back when she…" Draco trailed off as he led Harry along the side of the greenhouse. "Anyway, Scorpius kept stopping every sentence during his recount to emphasise that it has been his own choice to defy _her_ , to make sure I won't think that it was Albus' fault… I don't think Scorpius would forgive me if I dare to blame Albus for his torture. He also gushed about how Albus has come up of the method to communicate with you through the blanket, saying 'it was _all_ thanks to Albus that you guys could come to save us.'"

"To be fair, _both_ of them have played a huge part in saving the world… despite having almost destroyed it, but I am very proud of both of them indeed."

Draco looked thoughtful for a few seconds, before solemnly said, "About what you were saying, Harry… You needed not have asked as I would have kept an eye on the boys without you asking, but I give you my word that if I find out there is anything wrong with Albus, I will let you know."

Harry said sincerely, "Thank you, Draco. I will do the same for Scorpius as well."

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much for all your support, especially the lovely comments. I try to say this every time but you have no idea just how much they mean for me. Before last year I have only tried writing stories three times, never finished, never longer than 10000 words and they have been so poorly written that I'm glad I probably could not find them even if I try. If anyone has told me then that I would be able to write a rather coherent story of 36000 words (and counting), I simply would not believe it. The fact that there are a number of people following this story has motivated me so much and has kept me going so far. If I have tried finishing it before posting, it would probably have been abandoned by chapter 3, so it's all thanks to the people who have shown their support in any form along the way that this story exists in its current form and length.

Please comment, cheers =)


	17. Parenting Competition

Upon reaching the other end of the greenhouse, Harry was surprised to find himself looking at two smiley snowmen built a few metres across from the exit of the building, next to another opening of a hedge. He was cheered by the sight until he realised what the shorter one was wearing.

"Merlin's beard! What on earth was Albus thinking? Putting his new jumper on a snowman? And playing about in the snow without his jumper? Ginny would totally flip out if she sees this." Harry was annoyed as he thought he truly would be banned from sleeping in his room if Albus ended up getting a cold because of this.

"I believe he was wearing his robe, along with a scarf and gloves when he came out. And it isn't _that_ cold today." Draco tried to reassure him but he did not sound too sure.

But as Harry took his time to take in the appearances of the snowmen, he could feel an almost tangible warmth growing in his heart. Albus' snowman was slightly shorter and was wearing the jumper in its middle, all its eyes, nose and smiling mouth were made up of pieces of stone. The other snowman was slightly taller with its features made out of large hard candies. It was wearing a wizard hat as well as a Slytherin scarf. Both of them had wooden sticks as arms and they were linked together, seemingly as good friends as their creators were, with the outer arms stretched openly and happily. Harry felt unreasonably moved to rediscover this innocent side of his moody teenage son. He was, however, shocked to catch a glimpse of his companion, who looked distant and was in a daze from looking at two happy snowmen.

"Are you okay… Draco?"

He did not react for ten seconds, before coughing and said, "Yes?"

"Hmm… are you alright? You don't look too well."

"I… I am fine." Harry was not convinced that he continued to give him an enquiring look.

Draco blushed a little while avoiding eye contact when he said, "Hmm… Scorpius was seven the last time he built a snowman, back when she was still feeling good enough to play with him in the cold… he usually just spends his entire Christmas holiday indoors."

"I'm sorry, Draco. I have not seen Albus playing in the snow since Hogwarts either." He mentioned Albus for the sake of saying something but immediately regretted it as he knew that their situations could not be compared at all. They stood awkwardly together in dead air for a prolonged minute.

"Well… that was embarrassing. I might have to rethink about befriending a _Potter_ since I have no intention of revealing my secret love life to you." Draco deadpanned. He might be joking but Harry could see that friends or not, Draco Malfoy was not the kind of person who enjoyed showing his vulnerability in front of anyone, especially not multiple times all in one day.

"Hmm… I'm sorry. I will try to be less... nosy."

"Yeah, that's what you are… nosy _Potter_." He smirked, then continued, "Let's get going, at this rate, you can go back to have Christmas _dinner_ with the Weasleys."

* * *

They left the happy snowmen and entered that opening of the hedge and were now walking between two tall and thick hedges. Harry knew that he should not feel trapped or worried walking here with the owner of the land but he was feeling uneasy since the hedges reminded him of the maze in the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament and he had absolutely no desire to see any creepy peacock as well. They had just turned a corner and started walking on a path identical to the previous one when he heard the familiar voices nearby. He could not hear any of the words the boys were saying but they were laughing excitedly. As the sound did not seem to be coming from ahead, but from the other side of one hedge, Harry looked unsurely towards his host, who did not react but continued to walk forward. Upon turning another corner, Harry could immediately see an opening halfway down the right hedge, in which the boys' laughters were coming from.

His companion calmly said, "There they are." He did not seem to care enough to speed up while Harry, being driven by his curiosity, pulled ahead of Draco to reach the opening and enter. He could tell that the boys were close to the other side of the hedge at this moment but it could not prepare him for what happened next.

The moment Harry entered the clearing, which was surrounded on all sides by the hedges and was completely covered with snow, he got hit in the face by a snowball the size of a Quaffle and fell on his back. His glasses had been knocked off of his face.

"Oh Dumbledore!" He could hear a high-pitched squeal followed by footsteps rushing towards him while he tried to shake off the sting of cold and embarrassment while struggling to locate his glasses. At least his glasses were unbreakable now, unlike the old ones he had back in Hogwarts, that he knew they would still be intact despite having been hit by a giant snowball.

He had just shoved the glasses back on when Draco finally entered the clearing, took in the situation and teased smugly, "How much my younger self would have paid to see _Saint_ Potter fall on his arse like this?"

"Draco, did you have anything to do with this?" It might be a bit far-fetched that Malfoy would be able to plan this snowball that far ahead but thinking back about how he had let Harry entered ahead of him made him suspicious.

"Of course not, I _did_ guess that this was a war zone and I probably had amused myself with the thought that you could be hit right on the face but there was no way I could predict the precise moment a snowball would hit." Then he started laughing to Harry's annoyance. He would have told him off but he resisted when he realised how different the laugh sounded from the mocking laugh Draco used to laugh back in Hogwarts, this laugh was surprisingly hearty that he could not help thinking that this could be the first laugh of its kind for his former nemesis.

Harry had a feeling Draco could have laughed for much longer but he cut himself off abruptly when he saw Scorpius' expression. The boys had rushed towards him the moment he had fallen and while Albus had been trying hard to suppress a smirk seeing his old man falling on his butt, Scorpius looked flushed as a tomato. Judging by the terrified and guilty look of the blonde boy, there could be no doubt that he was the one who had thrown the large snowball that hit Harry in his face.

"I'm so so sor-sorry, Harr...Mr Potter! I didn't mean to hit you in the face. I mean… I didn't mean to hit you at all! And… I only made a snowball this big because I just got hit by one as large… I'm so…"

He looked so pitiful that Harry would have calmed him with a pat on his shoulder if he was not still sitting on the snow, so he awkwardly said, "That's okay, Scorpius. It was just an accident."

The boy did not look too convinced when he timidly replied, "My face got so stung by the cold just now when I got hit… it must have been painful."

"Scorpius, I am sure Harry meant it if he said it's okay…" Draco tried to reassure his son with a more serious tone while stepping forward to offer Harry a hand to help him up, which he accepted.

The boy looked back and forth between Harry and Draco puzzledly, like he was confused by what was happening between them, then his face cleared with an apprehensive smile as he registered Draco's use of the other's first name and recognised the change in the relationship between the former rivals. His smile, however, was short-lived, it disappeared quickly when he saw his father turned towards him with a hardened expression.

"Scorpius, snowball fight aside, did you forget that you had promised to return inside the Manor within an hour? Did you not understand that Harry was doing us a huge favour by letting Albus visit on Christmas day?"

Scorpius looked almost shaken by his father's scolding that Harry was ready to interject on his behalf but he got beaten by Albus.

"Mr Malfoy, please don't scold Scorpius! It was my fault for making him play past the agreed time. We have wanted to do so much out here and..." Here Albus lowered his voice and continued, "I might have overheard my dad saying my gran would have let me play the whole day here if that's what I want…"

Draco turned towards Albus and sighed, "Albus, even if that was your idea, you are a guest here and Scorpius is a host, he should be the one to keep track of the time and the one to be held responsible for losing track, especially when we are the recipients of such an act of kindness…" He paused before continuing, "Besides, your father was right, you should not completely forgo a family gathering in favour of playing with Scorpius."

It was Albus' turn to look guilty, he was about to say something when Scorpius piped up, "Albus, my dad is right. It was my fault that you are late. I am so sorry, Mr Potter, I should have dragged Albus back inside on time."

The boy had apologised respectfully with a bow of his head, which reminded Harry a lot of the earnest way he had accepted responsibility in McGonagall's office immediately after returning from Voldemort's world and witnessing the Dementor's Kiss. Albus' apology at the time had been, unfortunately, so half-hearted that he had doubted whether his boy had believed himself to be in the wrong at all. Harry could not help being impressed by Draco's parenting skills but he also felt so sorry for the boy that he was tempted to give him a hug for the second time of the day.

Harry patted Scorpius in the shoulder and said, "It's okay, Scorpius. I'm so glad that you two seemed to have a lot of fun today." The boy looked up and gave him a grateful smile. "We did, Mr Potter. Thank you _so much_!"

He then turned towards Draco and said, "Draco, try not to make the boys feel too bad. It would have defeated the purpose of the whole visit if they end up remembering Christmas day by the scolding. It isn't even that late but we really should get going. Hmm… would we be able to apparate back into the Manor from here?" Albus was definitely not a fan of Apparition but he was no stranger to it either, he would just have to risk dealing with the nausea for deliberately causing the delay.

"Sure…" Draco had withdrawn his wand and was about to lift the protection charms on the Malfoy ground when Scorpius interrupted.

"Wait, dad! I need to pick up something at the greenhouse… "

"Can't you pick it up later? We have delayed Harry and Albus long enough."

"No… they are important… Oh! And we have to pick up Albus' jumper as well!" The boy seemed unnaturally glad to have come up with the excuse.

Harry sighed, "I have almost forgotten. What were you thinking to have taken off your jumper in this weather at the first place, Albus?"

Albus answered defensively, "Well… we were trying to make snowman version of ourselves, of course the snowman needed something of mine to represent me. I could not use my scarf since our scarves are identical… Besides… it's not _that_ cold."

* * *

On the way back to the greenhouse, the boys were chatting in whispers with their dads walking together in front. Draco turned towards Harry after walking in silence for two minutes.

"Please do not take this the wrong way, Harry. I do like Albus a lot the way he is… but you probably should consider disciplining him a little more." Harry could feel his cheeks warmed, he was not able to convince himself to defend his own son in front of Draco Malfoy of all people as it was obvious that Albus was in some ways a bad influence on Scorpius, who had more integrity than a lot of adults. Everyone could see that Harry had been extra willing to spoil Albus for the last two months, so he looked suitably embarrassed when he replied, "Hmm… I will think about it."

The moment they had stepped out of the "maze", Scorpius immediately rushed towards the greenhouse, leaving the three of them to deal with the snowmen. They looked so happy together that Harry thought it would be a shame to ruin Albus' to remove the jumper. Unfortunately, he had no choice as it would be a literal scandal for Albus to show up at the Christmas lunch without his jumper.

Harry magically pried the wooden arm of Albus' snowman away from Scorpius' and removed his other arm. He levitated its head to let Albus carefully remove the jumper from its body but maintain the shape. Once the jumper had been successfully removed, he reversed the changes quickly with a few spells. Harry sighed when he realised that even with the arms linked back together, the snowmen just looked wrong without Albus' jumper. He turned sideways and saw that both Draco and Albus, who was now hugging his emerald jumper, seemed to share his feelings as they were staring at the snowmen with the same look of disappointment.

Looking at Albus' jumper, Harry suddenly got an inspiration. With magic, he quickly padded an extra layer of snow onto the middle and around the wooden arms of the snowman to change its shape to the shock of his companions. Then he dyed the reworked middle emerald green with a spell that the snowman looked as if he was wearing Albus' jumper, even though the texture was obviously different. Scorpius had just returned holding a closed wooden crate when he finished.

"This is awesome! Albus looks almost the same as before!" Harry raised an eyebrow when he heard the young Malfoy called the snowman by his son's name, luckily Scorpius did not noticed. He stole a glance and saw that Draco looked a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah, that was pretty cool, dad! But Scorpius, you should stop calling them with our names."

"Why not? He's supposed to be you, Albus! And I am happily eating sweets next to you as always." Harry felt his heart warmed but he was also tempted to laugh at this. Draco was giving him a warning look as if trying to say _Don't you dare_.

"I'll try to pretend this is not creepy." Albus muttered.

Harry tried to change the subject, "We should really get going. Scorpius, is your… stuff fragile? Can we apparate back inside from here? Would that be okay for you?"

"Don't worry, Mr Potter. This crate has a protective charm that the bo… I mean the stuff inside should be fine. And I have apparated with dad before so it's okay for me" Scorpius answered eagerly.

The two boys apparated alongside with their dads back into the Malfoy Manor once Draco had lifted the protective charms on the ground.

* * *

A/N: Disclaimer - I have NEVER played with snow before so please go easy on me. I just really want to have my boys playing in the snow :P By the way, I believe Draco to be an excellent father to Scorpius, strict since he wants his son to be a better person than he was but very loving that he would practically do anything within his power to make him happy. I honestly disliked Harry as a father reading CC but I do try hard to make his relationship with Albus as understandable and relatable as I can without changing CC's plot.


	18. Lilies

The Potters arrived at the same moment as the Malfoys and found themselves standing right across of their hosts. For a moment, the four of them just stood awkwardly together in a circle, until Draco said in a firm but understanding tone, "Scorpius, it is time for you to say goodbye to Albus. Harry and Albus are in a hurry."

Scorpius set down his crate then slowly moved towards his best friend to pull him into another suffocating hug, "It's so good to see you _today_ , Albus. Thank you for making this the best Christmas _ever_! I'll miss you." The blonde boy was obviously getting emotional as his voice sounded unusually nasal, Harry thought he might be thinking about the rest of the day ahead without all the distractions that was Albus Severus Potter. This being only the second Christmas after his mother's passing, he suspected Scorpius would end up thinking much about her after all.

"You won't miss me when you are eating all the delightful desserts in France." His son tried to lighten the mood, "And you can just write to me when you miss me. But for your information, today is my best Christmas _ever_ as well."

"Of course I'll write to you! I'm going to write to you every day."

"I'll write to you as well, merry Christmas, Scorpius!" Albus was now patting his best friend in the back soothingly.

The young Malfoy finally let go of the young Potter, then he turned towards Harry and smiled. "Thank you again for letting Albus come, Mr Potter. It means so much for me!"

Harry was about to say _You're welcome_ but unexpectedly, Scorpius had turned away from him to his crate. He saw the boy carefully lifted the lid then put it aside before lifting the crate up and turning back towards him. "I would like you to take these, Mr Potter."

Harry looked toward the crate curiously to find three small bouquets of about a dozen of flowers each. The bouquets were amateurishly arranged with flowers of different sizes and colours, there were so many different types of flowers with very little repeat within each bouquet. The arrangement followed almost no pattern, except there were three of one kind of flower in each bunch, and they were wrapped with parchments. At first glance, he could see that there were roses, lilies, orchids, carnations, chrysanthemums and some other flowers that he could not recognise. Considering it was Christmas, he found it curious that none of the flowers was red in colour, instead they were a mixture of white, yellow, orange, blue, pink and purple. Of course they could not be compared with flowers expertly arranged by a florist, but Harry thought they had this innocent and charming quality that melted his heart upon first glance. He saw that his former nemesis was eyeing the flowers but was trying to look as disinterested as he could.

"Hmm… The flowers are really nice, Scorpius. But are you sure you are giving them all to me?"

In response, the boy nodded his head not once, but at least five times in a row. He pointed at one bouquet with three lilies and said, "This one is for you and Mrs Potter… and I am hoping that…" Scorpius stared down at the flowers with a blush and continued shyly, "you would not mind delivering the other two for me."

"Oh…" He was undoubtedly surprised, "to whom would you like me to deliver them?"

"This…" Scorpius was now pointing at a bouquet with three carnations, "is for Albus' grandmother, and would you mind telling her the cakes are really delicious?" Carnations for the person who had shown him maternal love on Christmas day and whose cakes had reminded him of his own mother. It struck Harry that the young Malfoy seemed to have put much thought into his flower choices.

"That's… so sweet of you. I'm sure she would love them. How about the other one?"

He was now pointing at the bouquet with three roses, even though they all knew it was the one he was referring to, "Hmm...this one is for Rose's parents, the Minister and Mr Weasley."

"Ron?" To say Harry was taken aback was an understatement, "Are you sure you are not delivering them to Rose?"

Scorpius kept nodding his head again that just seeing him nod made Harry's neck feel tired, "Rose did give me a really nice present but I think we are friends now and I have already sent her a Christmas present, which I believe to be rather nice that she would like it…" The boy seemed so nervous that he was talking a mile a minute, "On the other hand, I hadn't expect _both_ the Minister and Mr Weasley to send me presents at all. I would pick something out but I could only send flowers now because there's no time but I have tried to pick my mother's and my own _favourite_ ones… with a little help from Albus… I'm just really really grateful that so many people seem so unexpectedly kind to me this Christmas…"

While looking at this lonely boy staring at his precious flowers while rambling on about the presents he had received and the flowers, something Albus said the day before echoed in Harry's mind: _He has always have so little yet he keeps giving, even after his mother has passed away_ … He found his gratitude endearing, especially considering how all his children, nieces and nephews seemed to have taken all the attentions, love and presents for granted growing up. But he was unable to respond not just because he was moved by this sincere display of gratitude, but also because he was extremely bewildered by the information that Ron Weasley of all people had sent Draco Malfoy's son a present.

Mistaking his silence as unwillingness to comply, the boy disappointingly said, "Hmm… it's okay if you would not like to take this… Mr Potter. I suppose I can send them an owl… "

"Of course I will deliver them for you, Scorpius." He interrupted firmly, then added sheepishly, "I was just surprised that Ron had sent you a present…"

"Thank you, Harry! Yes, I was shocked to see his present as well, I don't think I have ever truly talked to him before… Hmm… or did I talk to him at Godric's Hollows? I don't think so… Well, except when I was in the other world… but he would not remember that. It's a few products from his store and they are very nice and interesting… I don't think my dad was too happy to see it though…" Scorpius trailed off as Draco pointedly coughed once, Harry saw that both the younger and older Malfoy had a slight blush on his face. Harry wished he could have been here to witness Draco's reaction to the present himself.

Harry moved to take a closer look at his own bouquet and found himself not able to look away from the three large blooming lilies, two white and one pink. He did not really have much of a preference for flowers but he guessed the boy had picked lilies for his mother, which was extremely thoughtful of him. "This… is very beautiful. Thank you, Scorpius. I... love them." He was surprised to realise his own voice had turned unexpectedly thick.

The young Malfoy gave him a brilliant smile, "Really? I'm so glad!"

Since they were now travelling by the Floo back to his home, where he could leave his own bouquet, before returning to the Burrow, Harry thought he could easily just take two small bouquets on their own without the crate and had Albus take the other. After reassuring Scorpius that he would safely deliver them to their recipients, he carefully lifted them up and went toward the fireplace.

Albus was the first one to leave, he turned towards his best friend and said, "Good bye, Scorpius. I'll miss you, too. Have a wonderful trip! And don't forget to get me chocolates!" The last bit of his farewell might sound a little self-centred but Harry could tell that it was Albus' way to keep it light-hearted for his friend.

"Thank you, Albus! I'll see you next year. Of course I won't forget to get you sweets!"

Albus then turned to Draco and said, "Mr Malfoy, thank you for the delicious breakfast and everything. I'm _truly_ sorry for being late."

It pleased Harry to see that Draco looked genuinely fond of his son when he said, "It is our pleasure to receive you here for Christmas, Albus. Thank you for coming and... for your present. I do understand how much you two enjoy each other's company so it is okay for me… but you should be apologising to Harry and your own family instead of me if you want to apologise for being late."

While he agreed with what Draco had just said, he thought it could be quite humiliating for Albus to be asked by an outsider to apologise to his own father that he kind of preferred Draco to have left that out. He was nervous about how Albus would react but at least to his understanding, his son seemed to have a lot of respect for Draco that he would try to contain his annoyance even if he was annoyed or upset.

Albus stared down at the flowers he was holding when he said, "I understand, I will apologise to my family." Harry was surprised to see his boy turned to him next looking red-faced and genuinely sorry but not reluctant when he apologised, "I'm sorry, dad. I do understand that letting me visit today was a big deal for you."

It took him longer than he should to reply as such an apology was extremely rare for Albus and he was impressed by how easily Draco seemed to be able to get through to his own son. "Hmm… That's alright. And I should have let you know that your gran would feel okay even if you stay here for the whole day." He said that partly because it was true and partly because he wanted to save Albus' face, especially in front of the Malfoys.

"I understand, dad. Christmas is a time for family."

Harry remembered back in Albus' earlier Christmas holidays, when he had refused his demand to visit the Malfoys during the holiday with this reason: _Christmas is a time for family_ , his son would walk away dissatisfied muttering the phrase under his breath. Harry had been an orphan without his own family for a long time and had to acquire a family later in life through friendship and marriage, so it had hurt him then that his son could take his loving family for granted so much that it almost as if he had not wanted to attend the Christmas gathering. It was for this reason that he was remarkably touched now that Albus was saying this phrase without a hint of irony, but with a visible sincerity like he truly believed it.

Albus turned back to Draco and said, "Good bye, Mr Malfoy. Good bye, Scorpius." then proceeded to floo back home.

It was now Harry's turn to leave. He addressed Draco first, "Thank you for being so welcoming to Albus, Draco, especially at such short notice."

"As I said, it was our pleasure… Harry." He seemed to want to say something more but remained silent. The atmosphere turned awkward within seconds.

With a sigh, he addressed both the father and son, "I hope both of you will have a nice trip, especially you, Scorpius. You deserve a wonderful Christmas and New Year."

The father replied somewhat stiffly with a simple "Thank you" while the boy earnestly replied, "Thank you so much _for everything_ , Mr Potter!"

"You're welcome, Scorpius. Thank you again for your flowers. Well… good bye."

He had entered the fireplace and was about to floo away when Draco interrupted, "Harry,"

"Yes?" He was a bit concerned by the interruption.

"Merry Christmas, Harry." Malfoy was blushing pretty badly, probably feeling annoyed by himself for the silly interruption. Harry, however, was pleased by the well wish, so he smiled warmly when he said, "Merry Christmas to you too, Draco. Good bye."

* * *

Both Harry and Albus returned to the Potter house briefly, where Harry had sent Albus to change his trousers as part of them were caked badly with mud. How he had been able to get so much mud there was a mystery to Harry as the ground was completely covered in snow. He could have cleaned it with a scouring charm but the texture would still be wrong that it was preferable for Albus to change it out altogether. Harry, however, was able to dry Albus' jumper pretty well with magic. He put it aside then placed Scorpius' flowers for him inside one of the nicest vases he could find at his home. He was admiring them, thinking about how much Ginny would appreciate them as well, when Albus returned.

"Nice! They look even better inside a vase. Scorpius would be thrilled!"

"Yeah… that was very sweet of him. Anyway, we better get going, or your mother would mercilessly bat-bogey hex me for keeping everyone waiting." Harry made Albus put on his jumper quickly, took the bouquet for the Granger-Weasleys then gave Albus the other one.

Albus winced a little and said, "I'm sorry, dad. I shouldn't have…"

"We have been through this already, Albus. It is truly okay. Let's go."

* * *

A/N: I have been feeling a little frustrated with the pace of my writing mainly because of the never-ending Christmas day (11 chapters and counting... I hope it hasn't been dragging much to you), so I'm considering doing a little experiment with the chapter length. Around 2500 words is the average length of my later chapters, as well as the average length I have been able to write per week. I want to try posting longer chapters (about 4000 words or longer) but I don't suppose I could write much faster, therefore longer chapter will likely mean longer wait, but it could also mean a more satisfying read. It will be helpful to hear about your preference but I'll probably try this at least once no matter what. But things will start to speed up a bit from here anyway (at least that's the plan)

Please comment, your support is my motivation. Cheers =)


	19. Prank or Present

The marquee was very noisy as if all the thirty voices were talking, or perhaps shouting, at once but everything died down the moment the two of them entered.

"Al! Finally! Do you have any idea how much an agony it was to be drooling for half an hour in front of gran's _glorious_ roast beef, sustaining on salad and potatoes?"

All things considered, Harry was actually surprised that they were able to return before two but of course, James, as well as all his cousins, did have every reason to be upset. Harry just wished that his older son could go a bit easier on Albus today. It did not help that Ron decided to join the fun next.

"If I didn't know better, I'd have guessed that ponytail has kidnapped you or something." He was laughing at his own joke but stopped when he realised that no one thought it was funny. He actually looked embarrassed when he noticed that his sister and wife had teamed up to glare at him again.

Albus cleared his throat nervously and said, "Everyone, I am sorry for being late. We have lost tr… actually, I have make Scorpius played longer than we should that Draco and dad had to come look for us on the Malfoy ground. It was my own fault, not the Malfoys' or dad's." True to his words to Draco, Albus apologised to his own family for his lateness. What Harry did not expect was how honest his apology was, he could easily had continued to say that he had lost track of time and no one would have questioned it, it showed a growth of his characters that his son had not picked the easy way out but opted to honestly admit his mistake. It was also evident that he was remarkably protective towards the Malfoys that he would rather confess his own mistake than letting anyone blame them for his own fault.

Molly was quick to rise to welcome her grandson. She reached Albus with an agility impressive for her age and lovingly pulled him into a tight hug then kissed him on his forehead, which was no surprise to Harry considering this was the first time she had seen him after the boys' "adventures".

"You don't need to apologise for anything, love. I'm just _so_ glad to see you safe and sound. And happy, I hope?" She had released him earlier than Harry had expected in order to look him in the eye to try to look for confirmation that Albus was indeed happy.

From her voice, he could tell that his mother-in-law was getting emotional, which was somewhat foreseeable for Harry, but she was able to resist her urge to cry. On the contrary, he had not expected to see his son's emotional response to his grandmother's welcome. His eyes looked shiny which seemed to accentuate their green when he wordlessly nodded to her question, it took him ten more seconds to compose himself enough to answer, "Yes, grandma... I'm… very happy, thank you." With this, he pulled her into another hug, which took even Molly Weasley by surprise.

Everybody looked on in an uncomfortable silence as Albus had used to be the one least prone to emotional displays out of the entire extended Weasley clan. Harry could tell that Ron wanted to say something to lighten the mood but even he knew better than to ruin Albus' moment by making light of his nephew's rare show of emotion and vulnerability. At least Albus himself knew the perfect way to drastically improve the atmosphere. As he released himself from the hug this time, he lifted Scorpius' bouquet up and held it out for his gran.

"Gran, Scorpius wants you to have this… and he said your cakes are delicious!" Harry could hear the sounds of "Aww" echoing all around the tables, mainly by the female in attendance and most noticeably by Ginny and Hermione. Molly, however, was unable to suppress her tears this time. She reached for the flowers with slightly trembling hands and she dramatically breathed in the scents of the flowers while inspecting them. It took her a full minute to finally say, "They are… gorgeous! I would _love_ to meet your friend, Al. We should invite him to the Burrow sometimes." Harry could see Ron looking uneasy while Ginny was eyeing Harry with a satisfied look, no doubt priding herself for being right that Molly would feel sympathetic enough to want to invite the Malfoys over.

His son seemed to love the idea very much that he replied eagerly with a grin, "Scorpius would _love_ it here, gran!"

Albus finally moved towards a seat Teddy had reserved for him to his side when Rose said, "You know, Al. I honestly couldn't understand how you had to make such a fuss to spend time with Bread Head on Christmas day of all days when you are already spending 24 hours a day with him most days in Hogwarts."

Harry was trying to defend Albus by saying, "Rose, it was my idea for Albus to…" when Albus suddenly pointed at Rose, "You! What kind of sick joke it was for you to send a loaf of bread as Christmas present? I almost choked to death because of you."

"It would clearly be your own fault to choke to death by something as trivial as that. And it was exactly as you said, a joke. I even sent a _real_ present along with it in case he would take offense. Besides, didn't you say so yourself that Bread Head absolutely _loves_ eating bread? I doubt he would hate it to receive a wonderful loaf himself…" Harry had a feeling that Rose would be quite capable of retorting for a full five minutes if it was not for Hermione's interruption. "Rose, that was quite enough."

"But mum, Albus is the one acting rude _and_ stupid, why am I the one…"

Hermione did not raise her voice, but her stern tone was enough to make Rose shut up mid-sentence, "Rose, you have started it. You know well enough why it would do your poor, lonely _friend_ Scorpius some good to have his best friend over on Christmas day." She had pronounced the word "friend" with such emphasis as if daring Rose to correct it.

Rose looked flushed when she uttered "It's not fair…" under her breath. By now Albus had settled on his seat and after an uncomfortable minute, he coughed and said, "Hmm… for your information, Scorpius did _love_ your bread." He gave his cousin a reconciling smile. She, in return, gave him a triumphant look and a smug smile.

* * *

On his way to take his seat between Ron and Ginny, Harry handed Hermione the other bouquet and said, "Hermione, Scorpius wants to give this to you."

His best friend's face lit up as she said, "Aww… that's so sweet of him. Would you have any chance to thank him for me?"

"Hmm… I don't think so, the Malfoys are leaving for France in two days. I don't think I will see them again myself until the kids return for Hogwarts."

She replied with a smile, "I see, I will remember to thank him myself the next time I see him, hopefully I will be able to send them off at King's Cross after the holiday. I'm not sure if I'd be able to make it yet."

Harry noticed that Teddy was now greeting Albus warmly, "Merry Christmas, Al. How's Scorpius? Did you two have fun?" Harry remembered that when Albus' cousins had used to ask about Scorpius in front of him, he would immediately tense up or look braced for attacks but that had never happened with Teddy. Judging by how enthusiastic Albus tried to recount his wonderful Christmas morning to his godbrother while devouring Molly's delicious feast,and how attentive and responsive the latter appeared to be listening about two school boys' flowers picking and snowball fights, it seemed to him that Albus had not wondered for a second if Teddy had asked out of pure politeness but instead knew with confidence that he was genuinely interested about his friend's happiness. Needless to say, he was very pleased by the observation.

He waited till everyone had settled back down, started eating and chatting when he turned to his best friend and whispered, "Ron, Scorpius' flowers are for you as well."

Ron almost choked on his drink that it took him a while to recover, before he hissed under his breath while his cheeks were turning Weasley-red, "Me? Why would the… mini-ponytail give me flowers?"

Harry almost laughed out aloud and had to work really hard to suppress his voice, "Seriously? Mini-ponytail? There's nothing secretive about this nickname at all and it just makes you look stupid."

Ron ate for a full minute before turning back to Harry as others were starting to look curious about their conversation. "You're missing the point, Harry. Why would he send me… you-know-what?"

"I see how this conversation would turn into, why would you-know-who send me you-know-what…" Harry shut up when he saw both of their wives eyeing him with suspicions. He too ate a few spoonfuls of food before turning back and whispered, "To thank you for sending him a present, of course."

Ron looked, for lack of a better word, guilty when he focused back on his food and hissed back, "I have no idea what you were talking about."

"If you say so."

Ron continued to eat for a while then he turned back towards him and quietly asked, "If Sc… I mean if the boy wants to give them to the both of us, why didn't you say so at the first place?"

"Because I'm not sure if you are ready for your whole family to know just how compassionate you are." Harry could not resist a smirk when he answered.

His friend sighed then said after a beat. "It was Hermione's idea. You know how sympathetic she could get about these things sometimes. I'm not complaining as I love her the way she's… and nothing could have surprised me about that after the S.P.E.W. She heard about his trunk's vandalising and started asking Rose many questions about the bullying he got that when it came to time to pick out Christmas presents, she just _had_ to pick an extra one for Scorpius. I'm totally fine about that but she made me send one myself as well, saying 'You literally run a gift shop for school kids, Ron, how hard could it be for you to send out a couple of your most harmless products for a poor boy?' so I relented and did as I was told. By the way, I was totally offended by the 'most harmless' bit."

"I imagine you would." Harry laughed easily then said with a more solemn tone, "I hope you are not unhappy to receive the flowers though. I have never seen a young boy quite as grateful for receiving Christmas presents as he did… well, perhaps except myself as an eleven-year-old."

Even Ron looked scandalised by the idea, he said seriously, "Of course I'm not unhappy, it's just I'm somehow grateful that you didn't tell the whole world about it. I don't regret sending him the present as you all have said, he deserves a nice winter holiday. Whatever I had felt towards ponytail, I've never resented his kid… even though I might have advised Rose to be cautious and not to get too close to him initially. As I have said, I think he's a good kid… but that still doesn't mean I would like him as a son-in-law."

Harry could see that if he wanted to see his friend befriend Draco, there was still a long way to go but at least he was no longer hostile towards the former Death Eater. He thought he could totally live with sarcasm and some occasional bantering. Meanwhile, he could try to make his other best friend befriend Draco while getting Draco more comfortable around Ginny.

"What would I have paid to see Draco's reaction to your present though… Scorpius almost said something but he stopped himself when Draco gave him a cough. He did think they are _very nice and interesting_."

His best friend now had a mischievous look that Harry was not too happy to see, "I can totally imagine it without seeing it myself... You see, we have these enchanted toy animals that could be enlarged and are _really_ convincing-looking and you could even interact with them to a certain extent… I have sent the boy a couple of other 'most harmless' products, along with a toy rat… and a toy ferret."

It was now Harry's turn to choke on his food that Ginny shot him a look of concern. He had wanted to see Draco's reaction out of curiosity but now he found himself feeling sorry for his new friend. It took him a full minute before he could possibly hiss back, "How would Hermione ever agree to this?"

"Of course she didn't, I sneaked it in when she was not looking." Ron looked extremely smug to have pulled it off, but then it turned into a look of worry, "Don't you dare telling her about this!"

Harry could not resist teasing his friend for a bit, "Well, I don't know… that _was_ mean and Draco is a friend to me now…"

Noticing the change of Ron's emotional state, Hermione was eyeing them suspiciously now. "What are you two talking about? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing! Nothing's wrong at all!" Ron replied while giving him a pleading look. Hermione obviously had seen right through Ron.

"Hermione, I was just telling Ron about my visit to the Manor, he was just suffering from a minor panic attack remembering the last time we were there. It's nothing _too bad_." His friend was not entirely convinced but she did not look as suspicious either when she turned back to talk with Bill.

"You owe me big time for this." Harry was totally going to enjoy this controlling power over Ron while he could but he added with a sterner tone. "But I really do think Draco deserves an apology for you-know-what. _How hard could it be for you to send out your most harmless products for a poor boy?_ "

"Fine, I'll try to apologise to him next time… provided I could talk to him away from Hermione. And I'll _try_ … to be friendlier towards him."

The rest of the Christmas lunch passed by smoothly and quickly. Thanks to Albus' playtime on the snow, he was perfectly capable of eating second, even third helping of his favourite roast beef from Molly. Harry felt like it had been a long time since he had been able to feel completely relaxed to chat with each and every relative of his like this, it warmed his heart to see his younger son _enjoy_ doing the same, even though he definitely spent as much time as he could chatting with Teddy when his godson was not getting too cosy with his fiancé. Albus seemed to have a nice conversation with Arthur as well which ended with a hug. As much of an emotional roller coaster this Christmas had been so far, he could confidently say this was going to be one of the best Christmases he had ever have himself.

* * *

A/N: I'll finally be wrapping up the *day* soon, but there's still a long way to go with this story. Next chapter will be a much longer one but it will be a one time thing for now, please long forward to it.

Thanks for all the support, it cheered me up so much to read your comments.

Edit (8/12): changed a bunch of "least harmless" thanks to a comment by an anon guest. I edit my own work and even though I try to make sure there are as few noticeable mistakes as possible, these things do happen I suppose.


	20. The Best Godfather

The Granger-Weasleys were the first to leave the Christmas feast in preparation for their Christmas party, with the Potters followed soon after to help out. The party was a holiday tradition started a couple of years after the Second Wizarding War as an annual gathering for members of the Dumbledore's Army and since everyone was busy with his own family and career, by now it had become the only opportunity in a year for Harry to meet some of his old friends and comrades, meaning all DA members except the Weasleys, his dormmates and Luna. Not many of them brought their children along by now but as the Potters and the Granger-Weasleys alternated to host the party, their children, George's children, as well as Teddy were always included. The food was pretty good but as usual, his extended family would not have much of an appetite after eating so much of Molly's delicious lunch. In any case, it was a lovely occasion for Harry to chill and catch up with most of his closest friends over a drink.

Harry was talking to Luna when he saw Albus animatedly chatting with Neville Longbottom. He had been glad that the relationship shared between Albus and his godfather was somewhat similar to his relationship with Teddy. As someone who had been bullied a lot himself as a child, Neville understood exactly what the Slytherin boys had to deal with all the times and therefore was one of the few people Albus would choose to confide in even when he was most distant from his own family, despite not confiding _that_ much. As a Hogwarts professor and one of his closest family friends, he was able to provide the boys with comfort and support that Harry liked to think had helped them survived their first three years in school. For that, he had felt extremely fortunate and grateful for his choice of Albus's godfather. Harry made a mental note to ask Neville about how the boys were doing in school for the past two months when he had the opportunity.

Presently he was listening to Luna's interesting account about her latest trip to some jungle in a country he could not remember, where she had a "party" with a dozen of demiguises. She was wearing a white gown which she claimed to be made of real snow, Harry did not doubt that completely as he could feel cold air radiating from her, with branches of mistletoes adorning her hair. They were actually very pretty if not a bit strange. He would always have a soft spot for Luna as she had proved to be one of his loyalest friends from the very beginning but often he found himself at a loss for words while "talking" with her. One good thing about Luna was that she could comfortably talk for a long time without any response and not felt awkward about it. Even so, he was somewhat glad when Ginny came to catch up with her, which freed him to seek out Neville, who had just parted ways with Albus a minute ago.

"Hello, Neville." Harry tried to sound more casual even though he was actually a bit breathless from rushing forward.

"Hey, Harry. Merry Christmas." Neville greeted happily. "Albus was just telling me about his morning at the Malfoy Manor. That's really nice of you to have thought of Scorpius."

"Honestly, it felt like something I should have thought of doing from the beginning, from last year at the very least." Thinking back, he could distinctly remember Albus spending almost the whole day before Christmas last year writing letter. His boy must have been very worried about how his best friend would cope with his loss during Christmas times.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Harry. Give yourself some credit at least, Albus seems so much more comfortable and relaxed talking about you these days. I wouldn't worry too much about Scorpius either, I caught him grinning the whole time at detention last time." His friend was of course referring to the detentions the boys had gotten from their Time Turner adventures. A part of Harry really wished that they could have been exempted from them all. In any case, if Neville's goal was to reassure him, he had completely failed.

"Grinning at detention? Surely that could not be good… Has Madam Pomfrey checked him for emotional traumas or illness?" He asked in an alarmed tone.

"Relax, Harry… the first thing you need to remember about Scorpius is that he's kind of different from most kids his age." Harry tried not to feel offended as Neville sounded like he was trying to explain something pretty simple to one of his students.

"I'm well aware that he is different, Neville … I feel like by now I have a much fairer idea of what kind of a boy he's from Albus. But even so, grinning at detention could not have been a reasonable response from any student."

"I think he's just immensely relieved to have returned to a normal life after what he had been through in the _other worlds_."

"Oh… that makes sense. Hmm… Neville, it sounds to me that you know Scorpius very well."

"Sure, I would say I know him almost as well as I know Albus… Who would have thought that Draco Malfoy's son would be one of my favourite students, if not my favourite student of all time? I can still remember the first time he entered the greenhouse as if it was yesterday." Neville had a look of nostalgia right now.

According to his children, nieces and nephews, Neville was perhaps the most beloved and caring professor currently teaching in Hogwarts, despite teaching Herbology, a subject that was extremely challenging to make interesting. Perhaps it was the fact that Neville had had his fair share of struggles in school that made him such a great professor, that he would never make a student's life difficult on purpose and he would always be willing to spend extra time for a struggling student. Therefore, he was shocked to hear his old classmate playing favourites and was even more shocked by Scorpius' ability to impress Neville that much as Harry had only heard about Scorpius' talent in Magical History.

"Wow, Scorpius must be very good at Herbology then?"

"He is reasonably good at my subject, but I would say it's a combination of many factors that make him my favourite student… please don't repeat this to my students, I try really hard to maintain as neutral as I can in class and not to show my preference over any student." Neville added guiltily, "But of course I do have my favourite students… I'm only human."

"Your secret is safe with me… But what exactly make him your favourite?"

"Hmm… first of all, he's everything a good student is supposed to be, meaning he is attentive in classes, he always does his work and follows instructions to a tee. He is eager to learn so he asks a lot of thoughtful questions but he never asks them in a way to challenge a teacher. He's respectful towards others, careful and patient with his plants and he is willing to help others… even when they're not always kind to him. There was once when he prevented a student from being attacked by his plant… and mind you, that bully would have been sent straight to the hospital wing and would have to stay for days if the plant had succeeded. The student… had called him by that rumoured title before. I believe Albus was a bit pissed that Scorpius would help an 'enemy'." Judging by how easy it was for Neville to list off Scorpius' good qualities, he was indeed a perfect student.

"Scorpius does sound lovely, but that couldn't be 'first of all', right? I believe you have come up with all the qualities that could be used to describe a good student."

"Well, the other reasons are actually somewhat personal…" here Neville looked surprisingly embarrassed, "To explain this, I will have to recount the boys' first class with me. Albus entered first and it was only his second day of Hogwarts that he wasn't that subdued yet so he greeted me with a good-natured but way too casual 'Morning, Neville' immediately when he saw me. I was asking him to call me _professor_ when Scorpius entered. He looked at me as if he could not believe who he was seeing then he greeted me _very_ respectfully as Professor Longbottom, which was rare for a first year before any proper introduction, then he left after looking at me tongue-tied for a while. To be honest, I knew that I'd be teaching Malfoy's son but I had absolutely no idea what to expect as Malfoy hadn't been in the public eye for years by that point and I was well aware of the rumour. I was careful not to have any preconceived idea of how the boy would be like but I did do a double take as seeing him up close was so much like seeing Draco Malfoy's eleven-year-old self." Thinking about the first time he saw the boy on the platform, Harry could totally imagine the meeting himself.

"The class itself was very much like any other first-term introductory class except when a boy very unsubtly called him 'son of Voldemort', Scorpius didn't say anything… his face turned red but he tried to keep his head down while Albus immediately glared at the boy. At that moment, Scorpius reminded me _so much_ of my younger self and my heart was completely full of pity for the poor boy, not to mention anger for the other boy who had no idea how much an insult it was to be using _that name_ as an attack, that I scolded him pretty bad and I would never forget that grateful look Scorpius gave me." Harry thought about all the times Draco had thrown insults his way in class, it would definitely be nice if more professors would care enough to try to put a stop to that kind of behaviours.

"Albus stayed behind to chat with me while Scorpius stayed in the back waiting for him after class so I asked him to come join us. He was pretty shy at first but then he stammered out, 'It's such an honour to meet you, professor.' Albus looked at him as if he was crazy. I asked him what he meant then he squealed, 'you were one of the pillars of the Dumbledore's Army and you killed Nagini the snake!' Being admired by Malfoy's son has to be one of the most surreal moments of my life but I got used to it. He had since asked me so much about the war, like how it had felt to hold the sword or if I still have my DA coin. As it happened, even at eleven, Scorpius knew all about the Second Wizarding War, and I do mean _all of it_." Harry tried to imagine how it would have been liked for a kind-hearted boy like Scorpius to learn about all the things Lucius and his beloved father had done in the war. It must have been difficult for him.

"I have seen how Albus considers Scorpius as authority when it comes to history myself, it reminded me of how Hermione had been a walking textbook to me in school."

"Ha, Scorpius is in a way very similar to Hermione indeed… Anyway, you know Albus would have tea with me regularly at school… that pretty much started right from the beginning after the first class. I asked Albus to look out for Scorpius and invited them to have tea with me sometimes. Scorpius had come that first time and everytime afterwards, the two of them are simply inseparable." Neville said affectionately.

"I'm well aware of that… I bet Scorpius must like you a lot."

"That's true. He actually said that I'm his favourite teacher…" for someone talking about something he should be happy about, Neville had unexpected turned kind of sad, "actually, he said it right after that one time I had failed him very badly as a teacher."

"I doubt you could ever do anything too bad to Scorpius…"

"It was unintentional but still undeniably extremely hurtful for him…" Neville took a deep breath then continued, "Part of me feel like I probably shouldn't be telling you about this but it seems to me that you have been trying to help the boy that… I think this may help you. Once in their early days someone had wanted to play a prank on Scorpius but instead had hit Albus with a Leg-locker curse and at the time, Scorpius didn't know the counter curse that he had to help Albus around until they were able to get someone else to do it… So when Albus angrily recounted to me how humiliating it had been jumping around for help, I naturally said without thinking that I once had to bunny-hop all the way from the library to the Gryffindor common room on my own because of that curse. Scorpius' entire demeanour transformed within a second that I could see right away that he knew who had performed the curse on me. The next ten minutes were miserable for me as Albus hadn't noticed anything was wrong that he continued to heatedly talk about whoever had cursed me and the boy who had cursed him while Scorpius had hunched over, trying to look as small as he could. I desperately wanted to comfort him but I couldn't in front of Albus." It was indeed wrong for Neville to mention what Draco had done to him in front of Scorpius but Harry thought it very understandable to have happened.

"It took me a while to make Albus leave without Scorpius and he was very unhappy about it. Scorpius was silent at first which was so different from his usual self. I began by saying his name when he alarmingly said 'I want to thank you for being so kind to me, professor Longbottom.' I countered saying being nice to good students was practically my job. He stubbornly rebutted that teaching students was my job, saying I never had to go out of my way to be so kind to him. I felt so awful when he said, 'If I were you, I would not be able to treat myself so well.' I explained that I would never be prejudiced against a student just because I hadn't get along with the student's family, he sadly replied, 'That's what makes you a great professor. I feel so sorry about what my dad had done to you. You are actually my favourite professor.' I apologised for talking bad about his father in front of him but he insisted that I hadn't done that, that I had absolutely no reason to apologise. Despite everything, it was apparent that Scorpius loves his father a lot and it was rather complicated for him to think about the things Malfoy had done in his youth." To think that Scorpius had felt that conflicted by Draco's bullying, Harry did not want to think about how he must have felt about the almost murder his father had committed.

"But then I saw that something else was bothering him as well… it took some prompting but eventually he said that the boy had aimed the Leg-locker curse at him and Albus only got hit because he was trying to protect him. He actually said 'I should have been hit instead of Albus,' it almost seemed like he felt he had deserved to be hit because his own father had performed the curse on someone which made me feel so mad at the student. I had gotten the impression that he did wonder sometimes if Albus would be better off without him as a friend… which was just _wrong_." This showed Harry a glimpse of what the boys had to deal with at school and he suspected it might be just a tip of an iceberg, which was indeed heartbreaking thinking about how tender-hearted Scorpius was.

They were both lost in thought for a whole minute. "At least their social life must have been somewhat improved after Halloween?" Harry asked in a hopeful tone to lighten the mood.

"Oh, yes… but I would say it's both a blessing and a curse to them."

"What do you mean?" He had been so sure and felt so relieved that the boys were doing better these days that the information came as a disappointment.

"Of course life is easier for them when they are not being picked on as often… but you see, Harry, the boys have used to and enjoyed being low-key and out of sight from everyone. There are quite a number of students who treat them as heroes now when they used to consider them as losers. It's not easy for them to suddenly become the centre of attention, especially when they both feel responsible for someone's death."

"Have they… mentioned anything about Craig in front of you?" Harry asked tentatively, he had been worried about how the boys had been coping with the inevitable guilt they would feel but part of him was afraid to learn more about it.

"Actually, not at all. I know that they have never really been friends but Craig had never been one of the students to make life difficult for them. They hide it well but I know them well enough to be able to tell that they are certainly bothered about it to some extent… and because of that, it bothered them to be awarded others' esteem for their mistakes. You would think that they would not visit me as often now that they are friends with Rose and people are treating them better. However, they visit me more often than ever to talk about everything except the incidents. It's a bit worrisome but on the whole, they are definitely doing okay considering what they have been through."

"I see… but at least it must have been better for them that they are now friends with Rose." Harry tried to stay optimistic but it was getting a bit trying for him.

"Oh, definitely. Rose has been very helpful to them as you know she's the kind of person who would not hesitate at all to tell people off when they were being ridiculous."

"That's good to hear… Neville, thank you so much for looking out for the boys, I can't express how grateful I am for all your help. As you must know, Albus and I hadn't been in good terms for quite a long time and you of course are aware of the way I had separated them before…"

"Harry, I know you well… I know that whatever you had done, you did it out of love."

"Sure but that couldn't excuse it…"

"You of all people should know that you must learn to move on." Neville interrupted firmly then gave him a comforting smile. "Anyway, you're welcome. I love the boys and it's my job as their professor to take care of them. Not to mention… anything for _my_ _godson_ and his best friend." He had said _my godson_ with so much pride that brought an involuntary smile to Harry's face. Being able to relate to much of the boys' experience meant Neville was intuitive enough to decipher how the boys were feeling without being explicitly told. He was also observant and caring that he would easily be able to tell when something was wrong. Neville Longbottom really was the perfect godfather for Albus.

* * *

Later at the party, Harry ran into his own godson. To his amusement, not only had Teddy his signature "Christmas tree" hair, the tree now had two tiers completed with a shining gold star on top. In fact, the star was so bright that Harry could not look at his godson's face without shielding himself from the light with his hand.

"Teddy, you really outdid yourself but would you mind dimming it down for your godfather? Hmm… and may I suggest you to go easy on the fire whisky." Harry was very happy to talk with his godson but he could not suppress a grimace from staring at the light.

"I'm sorry, Harry." Teddy had now transformed his hair into bubblegum-pink, reminding Harry so much of Tonks. "I just couldn't resist from going a bit crazy these days as I have been banned from sporting 'ridiculous' hair colours at work."

"Oh, no wonder. That's absolutely tragic for you." Even though Harry could totally see where Teddy's boss was coming from, knowing his godson, "tragic" was not an exaggeration at all.

"Exactly. This is just ridiculous… I don't see how my hair colour would affect my working ability at all. Apparently, the Assistant Manager of the department is supposed to look _presentable_."

"My godson would always look presentable to me, even... if he grows a snowman on top of his head." Harry teased.

Teddy gave him a wicked smile, he always loved a good challenge. "Oh, snowman… that's a new one. Let me try…" Teddy closed his eyes to concentrate, his hair did not change at all for a while but eventually they grew longer, turned white then got shaped into a bun, then it turned into a little snowman standing on top of his head. To Harry's surprise, the middle of the snowman was emerald green.

"I see that Albus has told you all about his snowman." Harry wondered if the snowmen were still standing happily together.

"He did! It made me quite happy really… it has been a while since I last played with snow myself and I haven't seen Al this excited for a long time." Teddy said with a fond smile.

"You were just saying today that Albus has told you all about Scorpius in his letter?" Harry saw the perfect opening to ask how his godson would feel about meeting his cousin.

"I would say, Scorpius is all he ever writes about in his letter, maybe because he had never felt comfortable talking about him to the others. You can totally quiz me about Scorpius' favourite food, favourite subject, favourite book and so on. It feels so strange to feel that you know someone so well even though you have never met that person in your entire life… especially when you know that the person is your _blood relative_." Teddy's tone had turned from playful to serious, especially when he said the words _blood relative_. Harry just realised that the snowman had been replaced by his natural brown hair while he was talking about his cousin.

"Teddy, is there something you would like to talk to me about?" he asked hesitantly.

"I guess… you know the Potters and the Weasleys have always been as good as my own family for as long as I remember, but while planning the wedding, I just couldn't shake the feeling that the Weasleys will be there as Vic's family and gran will be my only _real_ family there." Harry could totally relate to that, thinking about how he could not get himself to be close to the Weasleys while they were grieving for Fred when he had returned to the Great Hall during the battle in Hogwarts, it took his marriage for him to stop feeling an outsider and finally feel truly belong to the family.

"Even though I can claim your family as mine… you guys would still be vastly outnumbered. I'm not complaining because gran is the best gran I could ever ask for and you all have been amazing to me… but I guess there will always be a part of me that long to know my parents… as well as my other family. Planning the wedding just really brings these feelings home to me."

"Oh Teddy…" Harry moved in to pull his godson, who was at least three inches taller than he was, into a hug. "I understand." The two of them just stood there in a sober hug for a whole minute, which attracted some concerned looks.

After they had pulled apart, Harry gave Teddy a smile and said, "As strange and coincidental as it sounds, I have actually been meaning to ask if you would like to meet your cousins Draco and Scorpius since this morning. I asked Draco today and he would love for Scorpius to meet you."

"Seriously?" Teddy looked a little dumbfounded as if it was too good to be true.

"Yes."

"This… is awesome! I remember gran saying Draco was rather distant… but unfailing polite. She said that the Malfoys had used to be quite prejudiced against Muggle-born but Draco had looked quite different to her. Gran has always felt bad for them regarding the rumour. And I just can't wait to meet Scorpius. He has already seemed like a little brother of mine, albeit one I have never met."

"I bet you will get along very well with Scorpius." Harry could just imagine the young Malfoy marvelling at Teddy's metamorphic abilities, not unlike the way Hermione and Ginny had marvelled at Tonks' pig nose all those years ago at 12 Grimmauld Place.

"Hm… Harry, do you think they will say yes if I invite them to my wedding?" Teddy seemed to be joking but he could not hide the hint of longing in his voice.

Harry laughed heartily, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, okay?"

* * *

That night Harry was finally able to have his long-overdue cosy moments with Ginny in which he filled her in about the time he had spent on Malfoy Manor's ground, his conversation with Neville and the encouraging response he had gotten from Teddy. As he had promised, he gave Ginny a full body massage even though he could not help nodding off doing it as he had been too exhausted. She was kind of pissed but ultimately got a good laugh out of it. As Harry felt his wife falling asleep in his arms, he thought about how he was able to give the Malfoys an unforgettable Christmas, how he could finally comfortably call Draco Malfoy a friend, how his best friends were now supportive regarding his new friendship, how he was able to make Albus happier than he had ever been for years and how he was well on his way to help an orphan and a motherless, isolated child meet for the very first time. He was convinced that for once, he was able to get most things right in his life.

* * *

A/N: As promised, long chapter =) Thematically, the two conversations work well together to me and writing both Neville and Teddy had been really fun but next chapter will be back to normal. I believe that Neville has a lot of potential as a Next-gen character because of his unique identity as both a Hogwarts teacher and Albus' godfather. I also think that he can provide quite an interesting perspective to the story as someone who used to be bullied by Draco but now gotta witness the bullying Scorpius would experience in school. I imagine the dynamic shared by our boys with Neville would be quite similar to the trio's relationship with Hagrid.

I'm planning to take a very difficult exam at the end of the month that I am not supposed to be writing (much) these days... but I'll see.

Thank you so much for all the support, all the follows, favorites and comments mean so much to me. Would be helpful to have some feedback on the long chapter and just anything related to the story. Please comment =)

 **Update:** In response to pottermum's comment about whether Neville being Albus' godfather is canon, JK Rowling has written some pieces on the "2014 Quidditch World Cup" back in 2014 on pottermore including a "live commentary" by Rita Skeeter, in which it was mentioned in passing that Neville was describing something to his godson Albus Potter, so yes, Neville is canonically Albus' godfather, which I think is perfect as seen in this chapter. (In case anyone is wondering, JKR mentioned that Ron and Hermione are James' godparents in a documentary) I don't even remember when I first read about this but I have known it for so long that it hasn't even occurred to me that the information is obscure. Unfortunately, I can't find the source article on pottermore anymore but for anyone interested, simply do a google search on "2014 Quidditch World Cup Final".


	21. The Nightmare

As wonderful as this Christmas had been, the holiday had fleeted in astonishing speed. Before he knew it, Harry was due back into the office again. As expected, work had piled up so bad in the few days he was gone that he found himself working daily for at least twelve hours on average the week he was back.

On the night before New Year's eve, Harry found himself arriving at his floo to a dark and empty living room at almost two in the morning. The house was so quiet that he would be able to hear a pin drop. He was feeling irritated as after a four-hour-long raid and chase, a criminal had escaped right before his eyes. Despite this, he tried to creep back to his room as quietly as possible for fear of waking up his family. It was going well enough until he reached the first-floor landing. He was unconsciously counting his own footfalls when he heard a moan. It was muffled that he could not tell its source until the voice moaned louder again ten seconds later. With a sinking heart, he realised the pained sound had come from Albus' room.

He tried to knock on Albus' room to catch his son attention but not loudly enough to wake his other children up but there was no response from inside the room. Meanwhile, instead of moaning noises, he was alarmed to hear that his son was sobbing now. Aware that Albus could possibly be mad at him when he wake, Harry nonetheless chose to unlock the room with magic, to enter the room without his son's consent.

"Lumos." Harry lighted his wand but controlled his magic to make sure the light would not be too bright that it would startle his son. He cautiously walked in then whispered, "Albus?"

Again Albus did not respond, Harry was now standing over his boy, where he could see him curled up in fetal position, his shoulders were shaking while he continued to sob. His eyes were closed but there was a deep frown and beads of sweat on his forehead. Harry gently shook his shoulder but was unable to wake him up and stop him from moaning "No", "Please don't…" and "I'm sorry…" intermittently in between sobs.

Harry was worried about how Albus would react if he forcibly woke him up but to see him suffering from his nightmare, which was no doubt related to his ordeal with Delphi, was too painful to watch. He took a deep breath then determinedly shook him harder while calling his name, his son finally woke with a start after he had shaken for almost half a minute. "What?"

Albus was so disoriented that he seemed to be looking at Harry without seeing him. It took him a while to register his dad's presence, "Dad? Merlin's Beard! What are you doing here? And with lighted wand!" Albus' voice was hoarse from crying.

Harry took his time to answer while Albus was sitting up on his bed. "I… I heard you moaning and crying… I came in because I'm worried about you and you couldn't hear me. You have been talking in your sleep as well… "

"I see… " Albus cast down his bloodshot eyes then said unconvincingly. "I'm okay, I'll just go back to sleep…"

Harry now put a hand on top of Albus' and said quietly, "Look at yourself, Al. You're not okay..." Harry had worked hard to make sure not to call him Al for more than two years but it still slipped out sometimes, especially when he was speaking impulsively, but he ignored his worry to continue anyway, "You were having a nightmare about Delphi, weren't you?"

Albus looked defeated and sighed, he could tell there was no use lying, "Yes."

"Has this happened before?" Harry asked even though he had known the answer already.

The boy hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "Yes."

"How many times?" He had to ask even though he dreaded the answer.

Albus shrugged his shoulders and said, "Once or twice." Harry suspected it could have been more often but his son's expression looked earnest enough to him.

He asked carefully, "Do you want to talk about it? Perhaps it will help…"

"No, I don't want to talk about it." The boy answered decidedly.

"I had had nightmares for as long as I could remember, Albus. You have seen some terrible stuff but I have experienced all of these before. I know how it's like… if you could just let me help you..." He was alarmed to see his boy now cupped his face in his hands, he remained in the position when he finally said wearily, "I can't, dad... I can't talk about it."

Having believed that their relationship had mended significantly and that Albus had begun to trust him, Harry was disappointed that he would not confide in him. Going through the list of things the boy had experienced because of Delphi, torture of his best friend, murder of a schoolmate, fighting for his life and murder of his grandparents, of course they were all terrible but both of them were aware that Harry knew about them all, at least he did know about the gist. How bad must his nightmare had been that he could not even bring himself to talk about it? As strange as it had been, Harry had stopped having any nightmare soon after Godric's Hollow but he thought, he would happily be plagued with them himself if it meant he would not have to see his precious boy fall victim to this and suffer. He was only fourteen that he should only need to worry about school work and talking to girls.

He reminded himself to be patient as he tried again, "Albus… it's okay if you don't want to talk about it but you were shaking, weeping and there is sweat all over… you shouldn't just go back to sleep like this." Albus had looked up and he looked absolutely exhausted, Harry was starting to panic when he noticed a hint of annoyance that he tried to continue in his most soothing voice. "You are still young that a regular sleeping draught may be too powerful for you but perhaps you should take half a dose. If not, you should at least have some chocolate and wipe off the sw…"

"I'm fine! Just leave me alone, dad!" Albus snapped.

Harry thought Albus looked very much like the way he had looked that night when he gave him the blanket. Had the past two months, all the progresses and especially the lovely Christmas all been a wishful dream, an illusion or mere pretense? He was, in truth, shocked and felt hurt that Albus would snap at him like this again after all these times but seeing him suffer had hurt him even more. He tried to look impassive to conceal his injured feelings the best he could but apparently, he had done a terrible job as his boy entire demeanour had softened as he looked at him with shiny green eyes and said, "I didn't mean it, dad… I'm sorry."

Wanting to make things easier for Albus, Harry said as calmly as he could, "Don't worry about it, Albus… I'll just go pick up a towel and a mug of water for you…"

For the first time since he had waken, Albus took in his appearance that he interrupted, "Did you just come back in from work, dad?"

"Yes, I did."

"Hmm… what time is it?" he asked awkwardly.

"Two in the morning."

"... I really didn't mean to snap at you, dad… I'm so sorry." Albus pitifully said in his hoarse voice. He had looked down guiltily and looked seconds away from bursting into tears again. It broke Harry's heart but it felt to him that Albus was apologising for something more than his snapping.

"It's seriously okay, Al. Snapping at their dads is quite normal for teenage boys…" Harry tried to lighten the mood but felt like he was doing a terrible job. "I mean, I understand that you must be dealing with a lot right now so it's okay."

"You didn't have a dad that you could snap at…" His boy whispered.

Feeling not entirely sure what his boy was getting at, he countered, "True but your poor aunt Hermione and uncle Ron had to deal with all my snapping and tempers in my fifth year. Looking back, I feel absolutely terrible for taking out all my anger at them. Anyway, I'll just go pick up the water and towel for you..."

"I think I would like to have some chocolate too, dad… if that's okay." Albus said timidly.

Being grateful that Albus would let him help, he gave his son a smile. "Of course, I'll be right back." His son tiredly returned the smile, despite a very weak one.

* * *

Harry quickly got what he needed then returned. Albus eagerly took the chocolate from him even though he was planning to hand him the towel first, then immediately started munching it, that Harry awkwardly sat down with the towel still in his hand after placing the mug on the bedside table.

As Albus had cupped his face in his hands earlier, the beads of sweat were mostly gone by now but he could see his son's forehead was still shiny from sweat with some of the front hair wet as well. He was so tempted to wipe his son's face dry with the towel but resisted for fear that the physical contact would agitate him after he had finally calmed. Albus only took the towel from him after downing the whole mug of water in one gulp to slowly wipe his face. The boy was aimlessly twisting and untwisting the towel when he shyly mumbled, "Thanks dad."

"You're welcome, Albus. Are you feeling better?" He asked even though he knew for sure that he must be, the boy was breathing easily and the redness in his eyes had been mostly gone by now.

"Yes, I… do feel much better now. I think I should be able to go back to sleep alright." Harry thought he could hear just a hint of uncertainty in his voice. "You must be so tired, dad. I'm sorry… for keeping you awake."

"That's alright, son." He said while giving him a fatherly pat on his back.

He could leave right away and he would have done that if this was before Delphi. Remembering his conversation with Ginny inside the church _He needs to feel specific love_ , Harry took a deep breath and said. "Albus, I understand why you would not like to share your nightmares and you absolutely do not have to share them with me if you don't want to…" His boy was looking at him with an intense but not irritated look, like he was thinking over Harry's words but pondering his own demons at the same time. "I just hope for you to understand… to _know_ that if you ever want to talk to someone about them, or about anything else… You can talk to me anytime. But only when you're ready, I will never make you talk if you…"

"I understand, dad." His son interrupted him again, but very calmly this time. Albus looked him right in the eye when he said, "I do appreciate it… but I'm not ready."

"That's alright… Also, please do not think any less of yourself just because you are having nightmares. You have witnessed more terrible things than what a lot of people have to witness in a lifetime. Don't ever think that you are weak because of them, Albus."

His son nodded silently with a preoccupied look. He said after an awkward minute of dead air, "Hmm, I guess I should get going. Good night, Al." He kicked himself for breaking the rule twice in one night and hoped that his son would not notice. He really was feeling too tired. Harry was getting up to leave when Albus called out.

"Dad?" He did not seem to register his slip-up at all but he looked like he wanted to say something really badly but could not get himself to continue.

"Yes?" Harry had sat back down to look at his son patiently.

"I know this is very selfish of me since you must be feeling exhausted… but could you stay with me until I fall asleep?" His boy looked so hesitant and vulnerable right now. Harry thought that he would do absolutely anything for him but it was the sort of thing he always struggled to tell Albus.

"Of course." He said softly because it was late but very firmly. Albus quietly laid back down on his bed, Harry reached for Albus' hand uncertainly but to his relief, his son did not object to it at all.

Albus had closed his eyes to try going back to sleep when he said, "Thank you for being here for me, dad."

"Anytime, son." _Thank you for letting me stay by your side, Al._ As worrying as it was to find out that Albus had been suffering from nightmares, at least there was something that he could feel grateful for, the chance to make up for his mistakes, to be a better father for Albus. Within five minutes, his son was fast asleep looking quite peaceful as if he had not been suffering from nightmares at all.

* * *

A/N: I feel kinda bad for doing this but honestly, the boys' experiences in CC were comparable to Harry's ordeals in his fourth year that realistically, it would take a miracle for both of them to not feel affected at all.

By the way, I genuinely haven't written at all lately (all I did recently was some editing) but I haven't been studying much either. I still post a new chapter since I would hate for you to wait for too long :P but surely I won't be able to go back to my normal schedule until early next month at least. Right now I'm 90% sure that I'll fail my exam, I'm literally the world's biggest procrastinator.

Thanks for all your support, comments make me _very_ happy =)


	22. Wife Therapy

Harry recounted what he had witnessed to Ginny the next morning before going in for work. Despite obviously looking worried for her son, she patiently listened to him until he finished without interrupting once.

"I just wish that he would tell me about his nightmares. It worries me so much seeing him like this without knowing what he was suffering from. If only he would let me help him." he was so frustrated that he could care less sounding like a whiney teenager in front of his wife.

"At least now you know how it had felt for me most of the times." She said it in an understanding tone but Harry could tell that she was remembering all the times she had felt frustrated and hurt by his silence in the past.

He looked at her, speechless. He had not thought about it this way at all. It was true that he had mostly tried to hide his nightmares from his loved ones, especially when he had known that the dreams would worry them. Of course he had believed that it had been for their own good and reasoned that it had been his own problem that there had been no point worrying them for something that they could not help. Thinking back to his most recent nightmares, he could not help wondering if he had told his wife and friends earlier about them or his hurting scar and to act upon them immediately, could he have been able to prevent the Time Turner disaster from happening at the first place.

Seeing how uneasy and worried he seemed to be, his wife soothingly caressed his face until he relaxed and momentarily forgot his worries, then she planted a kiss on his mouth, which he instinctively returned. When she pulled away from the kiss, she lovingly enveloped him in a hug and laid her head on his shoulder, "I'm so proud of you, love."

Harry broke off from the hug and stared at her in shock, "We have just realised that our fourteen-year-old son could possibly be traumatised for life, which has been very much my fault and your reaction was to kiss me and to say that you're proud of me? As flattering as it's, I'm not sure if you are thinking straight at all, dear."

Ginny let out a frustrated sigh and said, "Of course I am worried about Albus, but that doesn't mean I can't be proud of you."

He was still feeling very puzzled, "But why? I have made such a mess of things, I drove him away which got this whole catastrophe started… My misjudgements at work have made it possible for them to find the Time Turner at the first place… and clearly, after all these times, he still doesn't trust me enough to let me help him."

She gave him a much softer kiss this time and slowly said, "I'm proud of you because I know how hard you have been trying to be a better father for him. With all the letters, Draco and most importantly, Scorpius… you may have grown up without a father figure in your own life but that doesn't stop you from trying your best. I was just talking with mum and dad yesterday and they said Albus hadn't initiated a hug with them for more than four years. I heard that he had even made small talks with Audrey and _her_." After all these years of being sisters-in-law, Ginny still would not call Fleur by name. Personally, Harry had always found Fleur much more likable than Percy's boring wife Audrey, who was undoubtedly his least favourite sister-in-law. "All of our family could tell his changes on Christmas day, and it's all thanks to you."

"Surely it was all thanks to Scorpius… and seeing him yesterday, it could have been all a pretense to keep us from knowing just how affected he really is."

She seemed to be losing her patience, "It's Albus we are talking about here, Harry. Think about how he sulked in the corner just last year. This was the very first time our son has appeared _sociable_ in ages. Al would not care enough to _pretend_ at all if he's not up for it at the first place and I can tell that he's finally coming out of his shell. Even if it has been Scorpius' influence, you were the one who brought them together in Christmas times, and of course you don't need me reminding you how impossible it would be for you to do that just four months ago. Even though he may be hurting in ways, Al's progress is simply undeniable. Not to mention, his asking you to stay with him after his nightmare showed that he _does_ trust you and you are capable of comforting him." He did not look too convinced.

Now she had turned aside with a thoughtful look before saying, "You know, I'm thinking about those words Draco said to me on the platform… He might be right about you, you just seem so bloody determined to hold yourself accountable for everything bad that happens to many others. And it appears to me now that you are equally determined not to take credit for things you do right."

"Of course I don't feel responsible for bad things that happen to just anyone, but I do feel responsible for the ones that happen to my loved ones."

"Weren't you feeling guilty about Scorpius earlier? As sweet as Scorpius is, he isn't exactly a loved one for you."

"But his suffering was a direct byproduct of my rift with Albus… More accurately speaking, part of it was my own doing..."

"I was referring more to the sufferings Scorpius had experienced because of Delphi than the sadness he had endured from your separation. And considering those to be your fault is definitely a bit of a stretch. My point does stand that you feel personally accountable for bad things that happen to many others. People may see you as 'the Saviour', but you are _just Harry_ , of course you won't be able to prevent _everyone_ from getting harmed. And as much as I hate to say this myself, Al is definitely partially guilty for the disaster thus it was partially his _own_ fault to suffer from nightmares."

Harry shuddered involuntarily like he was in pain, his wife held his face in her hands to make him look straight at her and pressed on, "Whatever happened has happened, dear. Parents aren't even supposed to shelter children from making mistakes, we are supposed to help them to learn from their mistakes. We have to move on and try to do our best to support our boy. There's no point arguing how responsible you are and keep punishing yourself for something you have already been working so hard to make amends for."

"But I should be able to protect my own family," Harry had always known how limited his abilities were, but as a husband and a father, it was his job to protect his wife and children, "and if there's one mistake parents should protect their children from making…"

To his surprise, Ginny had moved away from him, held out a hand and simply said, "Shut up, Harry. I'm going to hex you if you insist on blaming yourself any longer."

It felt wrong for him to just let this go but he knew her enough to be able to tell that she was dead serious that he had no choice but to shut up.

Knowing that she had won, she tried to give him a comforting smile and said, "Harry, your son is more similar to you than we have thought. Try to remember why you had always hesitated in sharing your nightmares with us."

"I guess... I wanted to protect you, to keep you all from worrying." He surely did not feel protected from worry now that he was on the receiving end of the silence treatment. Unfortunately, he felt even more worried not knowing what Albus' nightmares were about. "But there was also a part of me that had believed that even if I told you or Ron or Hermione, you would never be able to understand how it had felt for me because you all hadn't experienced what I have."

"Perhaps that's why Albus wouldn't tell you what his nightmares were about. He may not want to worry you or he believes you won't be able to understand how it feels for him."

She had a point. Harry had rather lived with the burden of the suspicion that Voldemort had been back in some form than telling others that his scar had been burning. Others worrying that he had been having nightmares seemed preferable than them worrying that Voldemort had returned. But Albus was not him, surely his son would not have to worry that his nightmares would come true, would he? "I guess you're right… but he should know that I would be able to understand how the nightmares felt for him. If anyone could possibly understand how he feels now, I can."

"I won't be too sure about it, Harry…"

"What do you mean? I have seen Hermione tortured… well more like heard. I have witnessed Cedric's death, and I was right there witnessing my parents' deaths. Surely I have experienced all the worst things he has witnessed and had enough nightmares about the ordeals I have experienced to be able to _relate_ with him." It felt so surreal that he would ever feel the need to brag about the terrible things he had experienced to prove a point.

"Of course… but Bellatrix had tortured Hermione as an interrogation, instead of a direct mean to threaten you to do something that would destroy the world. Witnessing a schoolmate's murder might be similar for the both of you… but as strange as it's, Albus was the one who actually got a chance to connect with your parents as human beings before seeing them murdered. Not to mention…" Ginny stopped abruptly, she seemed to have decided against saying whatever she was going to say.

"What is it, Gin? What were you going to say?" She was looking down with a deep frown that Harry was unable to make eye contact with her, which somehow accentuated his dread.

She took a deep breath before saying, "Albus was not just witnessing their murders… he was also witnessing his dad's witness of his grandparents' murders." Harry realised what she was implying. Could it be that in addition of feeling guilty about Scorpius' torture and Craig's death, his boy was also feeling guilty about causing Harry pain? Now that Ginny had mentioned it, it did seem like a plausible explanation. He did not remember much about the night after he had returned from Godric's Hollow even though he had felt incredibly relieved for Albus' return. He had been a complete wreck that despite everything, he had been in absolutely no condition to comfort his son when he had needed him most. On the contrary, his fourteen-year-old son had straight out refused to go to sleep until Harry had fallen asleep.

Ginny looked pretty sad when she softly continued in a sympathetic tone, knowing that he had understood what she was getting at, "What I meant to say was, even you don't understand exactly how it had felt for him to go through everything he had gone through. You pushing him to talk will do nothing except for pushing him away."

"I didn't push him to talk at all. Actually, I think I have made it quite clear that he doesn't have to talk… but Merlin, now I really regret letting the boys stayed during the murders. We should have hidden th…"

He stopped dead when he noticed her calmly picked up her wand from the bedside table, then pointed it to his face threateningly. "What have we agreed about the self-blame?" He raised both of his hands up in surrender and shut up.

Harry slowly lowered his hands while she was putting away her wand. He knew she was right that there was no point for him to dwell on the past but try as he might, he had not been able to distract himself from the memory of his son trembling and weeping in his sleep. Supporting his traumatised son was definitely something that was easier said than done, and while necessary, this conversation with Ginny did nothing to comfort him regarding the challenges ahead. He still felt as defeated and lost as before when it came to the specific things he should do to support his son.

Noticing the forlorn look on his face, this time his wife pulled him into a silent hug. Harry closed his eyes and held her tight, breathing in her sweet scent and feeling her touch that had always reminded him of the security of _his_ home. Even after all these years, he still occasionally felt the need to pinch himself to remind him that he was not living in a dream. Forming a family of his own had been the biggest gift in his life and his children had been perfect in every way but few people had ever been able to understand just how important Ginny had been to him. At times, Harry had been much more like her son than her husband even though she was younger than him. She had been the one to calm him whenever she had found him crying from his nightmares, to painstakingly remind him over and over again that "it's not your fault" for just about anything, to hold him close until he fall asleep for years on end. She always knew what he needed and this time, she held him close for minutes in silence until he was ready to let go himself.

When he looked into her chocolate brown eyes again and said, "Thank you", he was trying to wordlessly convey all the things he was grateful for with his look. "I just don't know…" he was caught off guard to find himself choking up, "... don't know what I can do for him."

She gave him a gentle and reassuring smile and said, "I haven't finished just now when I was telling you how proud I am of you… I'm also proud of you because if things had gone the exact way as you have described, I think you have supported Albus in the best way you could given the circumstances." There was undeniably pride in her voice.

"Really? I feel like there must be more I could do to help … He's still a boy, he shouldn't have to deal with any of these, a murderous witch who manipulated his emotions, the burden of witnessing his best friend's torture and Craig's death… not any of these."

"Said the boy who lived, who had witnessed his parents' death at one even though he didn't remember… as well as having defeated Voldemort twice and almost having been kissed by a Dementor by Albus' age." Ginny recited with a slightly bored tone.

"Gin, I'm serious. This is not a competition."

"It's not sarcasm, Harry. Of course Albus and Scorpius don't deserve to have this burden at their age, but you were even younger than them when you first fought Voldemort. Did it ever cross your mind that you weren't supposed to experience that when your were eleven? No one deserves any of these traumas but countless of people got traumatised every day anyway. Is it terrible? Yes. Is it preventable? Not unless you can lock every criminal up before he has even committed the crime."

Harry opened his mouth, wanting to argue but found that he had no word against her argument then he weakly say, "I just feel like I should be doing more … after everything he has been through." He balled a hand into a fist frustratedly.

She gently placed her hand on top of his fist and said, "You have been regularly writing to him and was somehow able to get a fourteen-year-old to reply to you every time. You calmed and comforted him after a nightmare of his and have made sure that he knows that you're there for him without pushing him to talk. You have made sure that once they are back in Hogwarts, Neville will continue to look out for him and after your talk with Draco, you would likely be informed if Scorpius notices anything alarming enough about Albus to tell his father. I don't think I could do anything better for him myself."

He looked at his wife solemnly. Even though she had woke up half an hour before, she appeared as radiant as ever and her sincerity and love were evident in her most delicate expression, he could literally tell her everything he felt. "It felt too good to be true when my nightmares have stopped… what I would give to have them back now if only…"

She lifted his hand up and kissed it before kissing him affectionately on his mouth. "Like I could ever expect anything less from you. You are the most loving person I have known... and I love you." He finally smiled for the first time since going to sleep the night before.

"Just show him that he's loved and stay by his side. Maybe Al would feel ready to share his nightmares with you soon."

* * *

A/N: I have always thought that being Harry's wife must be quite challenging at times, especially after reading HPCC to realise just how traumatised Harry has always been. Poor Ginny, I imagine this is probably the thousandth conversation of its kind. I have been rather indifferent about Hinny but HPCC has convinced me that they are indeed perfect for each other. That said, my outline for this part was basically "H told G about A's nightmare and ask her to look out for A"... didn't expect to write such a lengthy chapter with these two but I do like how it has turned out, I hope you would as well.


	23. New Year's Eve (part 1)

Harry finally left home for work after Ginny had reassured him that she would keep a close eye on Albus for that day as well as the rest of their winter break. Fortunately, with the Quidditch season over, Ginny was able to work at home for this entire time to take care of their children, especially Albus.

It had been another chaotic day at work that by the time the clock struck nine in the evening, he had yet to touch on the report on the previous night's raid, which was due by the end of that day as the Ministry was supposed to release a statement to inform the Wizarding community about some irreversible damage done on Knockturn Alley as well as a more detailed description of the fugitive. Determined to spend some quality time and to countdown with his family on the one night of the year in which their children were allowed to stay up till midnight, he had no choice but to bring his paperwork with him to the New Year's Eve gathering at the Burrow.

* * *

When he had arrived at the Burrow's living room, Ginny, who had apparently been chatting chillingly with his parents-in-law, Angelina, Roxanne and Lily, immediately rushed forward to greet him with a kiss, despite the soot on his face. The kiss could not have been longer than ten seconds but was apparently annoying enough for James that he called out across the room, "I'm really happy to see you dad, but you two better get a room, it's so humiliating!"

"James Sirius Potter, 'us two' are your mum and dad and we are perfectly capable of grounding you for the rest of your break if you continue to talk to us like that." Ginny had transformed from welcoming wife into her no-nonsense matriarch mode in no time.

Not surprisingly, Ron decided to chime in in support of his nephew. "Give him a break, Ginny. James is absolutely right, you two have no right to subject us all to that, especially me. It's still disgusting as ever for me to watch after twenty-four years."

She rolled her eyes, "If it were up to you, I would still be a bitter virgin till this day."

"That's not true. When did I ever object to your relationship? But accepting my best mate as my brother-in-law doesn't mean I agree to look at you two snogging in public whenever you like, which is pretty much _all the times_."

"You know that isn't even snogging, maybe this is some unsubtle way for you to tell us that you want some demo snogging now…" Ron's face looked almost as red as his hair.

"Ginny! What kind of mother would say that in front of her own kids? That's enough for the both of you. It's New Year's Eve and Harry didn't rush here from work for this." The two youngest Weasley parents looked suitably embarrassed by their mother's scolding while she made her way through to hug Harry. Then it was Lily's turn. While his daughter was lovingly hugging him after not seeing him at all for two whole days, Albus gave Harry a slightly awkward smile across the room from the dining table, where he was seated along with Ron, James, Rose, George and his son Fred.

The New Year Eve's gathering was always more chilled than the Christmas lunch as there would usually be less people present and the feast would be much less elaborately prepared. Charlie had returned to Romania while Bill's family along with Teddy had travelled to France to visit Fleur's family. Harry was told that Percy had stayed for dinner but had left afterwards while Hermione was going to come in within an hour before counting down. Harry only had time to briefly chat with the group at the living room before borrowing Bill's old room, which had one of the best desks here, to work on his report. He did steal a glance of Albus, who was animatedly arguing with Rose about why Gonçalo Flores was one of the best current chasers, before heading up.

Ginny had told him that Albus had asked about him earlier in the day and he would have given his son a real greeting but seeing Al passionately discussing Quidditch with his family had given him such nostalgia that he would rather not disturb that. Albus had been a great fan of the sport like any other young wizard before going to Hogwarts, where his own inability to fly coupled with his hatred on houses' rivalry had killed his passion for the sport. Since overcoming his weakness in flying, Albus' love in Quidditch had rekindled and had become as strong as ever now that while Harry would not mind either way, he could not help wondering if his boy would end up trying out for the Slytherin team in the coming years. Of course, it was also wonderful in itself to see Albus simply enjoying himself after finding out about his nightmares.

* * *

It was almost eleven when Harry heard a knock on the door, he had cast a silencing charm that blocked out the noise from downstairs and had been remarkably productive that the report was almost done saved some editing work. He had expected Ginny or Molly entering with a mug of coffee or tea when he called out 'Come in' without turning away from his work since he was proofreading the middle of a paragraph. However, his curiosity got the better of him when he realised that the door had been cautiously opened yet no one had entered or said a word. He could not see the figure looming behind the door when he first turned around but once he leaned forward for a better look, he immediately spotted the messy black hair sticking out behind the door before Albus took a step to the right to show himself. It was surprising enough to find Al looking for him but he found it more surprising that his son appeared quite nervous and uncertain.

"Hello, Albus. Why don't you come in?" Harry gave his son a welcoming smile while gesturing for him to enter with a hand.

"Am I bothering you, dad? Mum said you are busy working on a report." The boy was indeed holding a mug of something but he remained glued to the spot.

"Of course you are not bothering me, Albus. Why would you think that? Is that for me? I could definitely use a drink now." Harry dramatically stretched his arms and gave a huge yawn.

"Yes, mum said you may be feeling sleepy that I should bring you some tea." Albus seemed grateful for his cue, he looked more relaxed when he opened the door wide then carefully walked in to avoid spilling before handing him the mug.

"Thank you." He took the drink and promptly took a big sip, before placing the mug on the desk at a safe distance from his report. Albus had sat on Bill's old bed by the time he turned back to face him.

"Are you done with your report, dad?"

"This is due within an hour but I'm finishing up so I'll definitely be able to make it on time."

"I see…" His son had looked down and started distractedly playing with his hands.

"What is it, Albus?" Harry asked as patiently as he could since he thought there was a chance this had something to do with his son's nightmares.

"I thought that you were upset with me since you didn't come over at all when you have arrived just now… then I got worried when you hid yourself here for so long. I thought it might have been an excuse…"

"Albus," there was an urgency in his voice that his son immediately looked up, "why would you think that I would be upset with you?"

The boy looked sideway to avoid his intense look, his lips twitched a little before saying "Be-because I… was so rude to you last night when all you were trying to do was to help me. I slept very well afterwards that you waking me up from my nightmare almost felt like a dream to me now. I… don't really remember well what we have said but I do remember me snapping at you and you promising I don't have to tell you about my nightmares."

"Oh Albus…" Harry had moved closer to wrap an arm around Albus' shoulders, "You have no reason to worry… You did snap, but it was just a natural reaction from me bombarding you with questions and suggestions. I would have done the exact same thing if I were you. And I didn't come over earlier just because I saw how engaged you were in your conversation. Had I known how worked up you would be, I would definitely have come over."

It pleased Harry to see how readily Albus had accepted his comforting and had wrapped his own arm around his back in return. Although the hug he had shared with the boy on his first day back had been nice, it had undeniably been awkward in ways, this hug, on the other hand, did not feel awkward in the slightest.

After they had let go, Albus finally looked Harry in the eye when he continued, "I keep hearing what you said to me last night, dad... It might be off but you said something along the line of 'you don't have to share your nightmares with me if you don't want to.'" While staring into his son's eyes, he was fascinated by the depth of their green. He wondered if his own eyes had the same effects on others the way his son's had on him now. Al might not look emotional but he felt like if he stared at the green hard enough, he would be able to stare into the boy's soul, how much easier it would be for him to be able to read his son's thoughts and emotions. What a crazy thought it was though. He knew he would never use legilimency on his loved ones even if his skill was not rubbish. He still remembered how invaded and humiliated he had felt when Snape had used it on him. Being a father meant he should always try to understand his children through communication.

"Yes? You're right, that was pretty much what I said." Could his son be about to tell him about his secrets?

"There's a big part of me that … really _wants_ you to know, dad, but there's also another part of me that's… hmm…" The boy started to look away in search of his word.

"Worried?"

"Hmm… it's not exactly what I want to say but it's not wrong either. Hmm..."

"Scared?" This was certainly not the word he would hope for but the boy was in such a loss and he did have to go back to finish his report soon.

"Probably…" Harry could literally see some deliberation in Albus' part before he said, "It's not the most accurate word but it'd be easier for you to think of it that way… I seriously can't tell you about them now," he could now see an unexpected determination in his son's eyes, "but I do want you to know that it's not because I _don't want_ to tell you. It's… complicated. I hope to be able to tell you someday."

Looking at how hard his son was actively trying to communicate with him was almost like looking at a mirror for him, like looking at himself talking with Al the previous night or before Christmas. It could possibly take many years for them to ever be able to openly discuss their feelings with each other, but for now, it was more than enough for Harry to see that both of them were genuinely trying to connect with each other, which was why he gave his boy a knowing smile and said, "Thank you, Albus."

"Thank you? For what?" His son was taken aback and looked extremely confused.

"For telling me how you feel, it means so much for me. I'm proud of you."

Albus eyed him suspiciously as if trying to decide if Harry was joking, but one look at him seemed to have soothed his suspicion then his face started flushing as if all his blood got pumped to his face at the same time as he processed what Harry had said. His boy had never been able to take compliments well.

Wanting to ease Albus' embarrassment, he casually asked, "So… how's your day, Albus?"

His son looked relieved from the distraction that he immediately sat taller and leaned forward, "It's great actually! I slept in that I almost woke up at noon. Oh I didn't get to tell you dad, I have received _another_ letter from Scorpius yesterday…" Albus was positively radiating happiness talking about his best friend.

* * *

A/N: I was going to finish New Year's Eve in one chapter but decided to cut it into two parts so I can at least post something this week. Despite Albus being a more annoying version of OotP Harry for the majority of the play, it's actually quite obvious that he does love his father a lot so I believe Harry wouldn't be the only one putting in all the efforts in this relationship. However, sometimes I do wonder if this drags to you as the plot is indeed moving much slower than I had expected but I do like it myself and it takes time to develop any relationship and trust that I don't want to rush just to get into the meatier parts.

Thank you so much for all your wonderful support again, I have been having a terrible week but you all keep me motivated enough to keep writing. please comment =)


	24. New Year's Eve (part 2)

There was a buzz of excitement around the room when Harry was finally able to rejoin his family after hastily sending out his report by the floo, about twenty minutes before the New Year's countdown. With everyone arrived, there were not enough chairs but almost everyone was standing around and chatting anyway. From across the room, he saw that Ron was contentedly hugging Hermione from behind while they were talking with Ginny. He joined his wife from behind when he kissed her softly on her cheek, catching her in surprise before she turned to return a kiss on his mouth. Her kiss was sweet as always but he tried not to be distracted by his best mate's rolled eyes.

"You see what I mean, Hermione? As I have said, I have every bloody right to be annoyed by this."

Ginny retorted with a raised eyebrow, "Said the forty-year-old man who's clinging to his wife like a kola… or whatever that muggle creature is called." She had turned towards Harry for confirmation.

Not wanting to fuel their arguments but sensing that she expected him to respond, he awkwardly answered, "Hmm… it's a koala."

Hermione completely ignored the exchange by turning towards Harry and said, "This is perfect timing, Harry. I have been meaning to ask you a couple of things about yesterday's raid…" It was obvious to him that her questions was just a way for her to defuse the tensions between the siblings, which worked perfectly as they did not know enough to join in their talk but they did not want to leave either, which left them no choice except to listen awkwardly in silence. Being the Minister for Magic, of course she only disclosed information that had already been made public anyway. Within two minutes, Ron, who had reluctantly released himself from the hug earlier, had more than enough.

"Shouldn't you take a break after working for fourteen hours straight today, Hermione? I do not want to hear another word about your work this year."

"If you say so." Hermione feigned hesitancy in her voice but Harry could catch a wink she threw his way while Ron was not looking.

"By the way, Harry, it looks like I won't be able to send the kids away after the break." His best friend appeared quite bummed.

"Oh, that's too bad."

"Could you please thank Scorpius for his flowers for me? I was really looking forward to thank him myself." It seemed to Harry that the idea of asking Ron to thank the young Malfoy had not even crossed Hermione's mind at all.

"Hmm… sure, if that's what you want." He shot his other best friend, who had promised him to apologise to Draco, a meaningful look which he purposefully dodged. He had debated about suggesting Ron but decided to let it go.

* * *

Presently, Molly levitated a large tray out with about twenty glasses of butterbeer. Technically, the adults could of course have a Firewhisky but Molly always believed that it would be merrier for everyone to drink butterbeer _together_. Each person took a glass followed by more half-hearted chatters while waiting to countdown. Having located their children clustered around their grandfather, the Potter parents moved to join the not-so-captivated audience of Arthur's gushing of his latest Muggle-find: the smartphone, mere minutes before the countdown.

"It's absolutely _magical_! One would have thought they would need something much bigger than this," Arthur was now shaping his hands into a small rectangle, "to do so much! I wish more of you would use it just so Molly would let me get one of those… _Chatting_ sounds so exciting with the Muggles' magical boxes…I heard you can even send moving _wizard photos_ from them!" While they barely used Muggle technology in their home, the Potter children were aware enough about these through their Muggle-raised father that it was impossible for them to feign half of Arthur's enthusiasm on the subject, but they loved their grandpa too much to throw cold water on it or to correct him regarding the muggle phone's video functions. Fortunate for them, he was finally distracted.

"Oh, look at the time! It's the end of quite an eventful year here." Arthur gave them a good-natured look but Albus seemed to take it the wrong way and blushed embarrassingly while the extended family started counting down.

At the turn of the new year, George lighted Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes' most popular indoor fireworks while everyone toasted with their glasses. Harry gave Ginny a New Year kiss in which he could practically taste the butterbeer from her mouth.

"Not again." James muttered under his breath while being hugged by his sister.

Ginny turned toward her eldest son with a devilish smile, "there's nothing gross about physical affection. As a matter of fact, I'm well aware that you have plenty of exposure with what's-her-name, oh Je…"

"Stop it, mum!" The Potter first-born looked absolutely horrified to have his love life exposed in front of his entire family.

"Oh, she's such a pretty girl with gorgeous blue eyes, What a pity it is that you won't even invite her over during the break, I haven't got the chance to chat with her myself yet…"

"Please stop, mum." James pleaded with his mother in a desperate tone while eyeing Fred and Roxanne who were standing nearby with Angelina.

Her eyes twinkled triumphantly while her mouth had curved up in a smug smile when she said, "I'll stop if you stop teasing your parents whenever we kiss. Between Ron and you, I really have had quite enough." Then her expression softened, "Just kidding. Serve you right but I'll let you keep it low-profile for now…who would have thought my nosy James could be so bashful? I love it" She moved to give his eldest son a New Year's hug, which was readily accepted as he was too relieved for being let off the hook. Meanwhile, Harry was hugging Lily while Arthur was happily embracing Albus.

Ginny hugged Albus next while Harry was turning to hug James. Lily had thrown herself in Arthur's arms that his glass almost got knocked off. "Have a wonderful 2021, love. You deserve all the happiness in the world." He heard her whispered to Al's ear. It was quite jarring how she seemed to be on the verge of choking up considering she was just playfully tormenting James a moment ago. Looking at them made Harry felt bad as he had been so focused on _his_ relationship with their son that it had not even crossed his mind to make Ginny talk with the boy about his nightmares. Knowing how desperate he wanted to be the one to help their son, Harry thought Ginny might try to be quiet about this. The main goal should always be relieving Albus' burden, regardless of who Albus chose to confide his problems with. But then Harry turned his attention to James, knowing that he had been so intent on making sure that Albus had been okay at his other children's expense.

"Happy New Year, James. This is going to be quite an exciting year for you now that you will be starting your Apparition class soon." At the mention of apparition, James immediately lighted up, "Oh yes, I can't wait! The Floo isn't too bad but it's a nightmare whenever you want to dress up. Of course, dad you wouldn't understand how bad it's for us ginger, the soot can pretty much blend right in with your hair."

Harry looked fondly at his eldest son, whose interest in his look reminded him suddenly of the way his father had constantly messed up his hair in Snape's memory. James had always been the perfect embodiment of his namesakes, in the sense that he carried himself with an easy confidence, a great sense of humour and an adventurous attitude.

"That may be the case... By the way, sorry I didn't come over earlier, I haven't seen you at all for the past two days."

"That's quite alright, dad. Unlike Al, I know when I should leave you to your work. You should have seen how distracted he looked after you had gone up earlier."

Although he knew James meant no harm, he warned him with a rather stern tone but made sure to keep his voice low. "James, I know that this may be all teases for you but you can't even imagine half of what your brother has been through the past few months. We should be grateful that he's been opening up instead of isolating himself from the family like before. What you consider as jokes could feel quite hurtful for him, please go easier on your brother."

The red-headed boy's wide eyes told Harry that he was taken aback by how serious he had sounded all of a sudden. His son looked away a little when he said, "It's not like I hadn't wanted to be there for him before, there's only so much I could do when he kept himself inside the Slytherin dormitory or Merlin-knows-where all the times. I'll try not to tease him but I do wish you all could tell us more about what have happened. I thought… Lily and I would have a right to know."

His son was right, they deserved to know at least part of what had happened between Delphi and the Slytherin boys, but with Lily so young, Harry and Ginny had agreed that they would tell the two of them later together. "I promise that I will tell you two about Albus' experience _someday_." Harry glanced towards Lily briefly at the end, James immediately gave him a nod of comprehension and considerately said, "I understand, dad." Almost everyone knew of James' sarcastic and humourous side but much fewer people knew of his sweet and empathetic side. Harry's heart warmed with affection as he gave his eldest son another hug.

As if it had been orchestrated, Ginny grabbed Lily for a hug next while Arthur cheerfully turned towards James, leaving Harry and Albus looking a little awkwardly at each other. Al had sneaked away to the toilet during last year's countdown, which had prompted him to have a frustrated talk with the boy after. Despite having hugged Al a mere hour earlier, Harry could tell both of them were reminded of the previous year's talk. Reminding himself that things had changed so much for the better, he was about to make the first move when his son gave him a bashful smile and slightly opened his arms.

"I guess it's my turn now?" Before Harry could nod his agreement, Albus had immediately proceeded to embrace him to his bewilderment.

"I love you so much, Albus." He squeezed the boy so tight that he could practically feel his heart pounding against his son's chest.

"I…" For a moment there, Harry thought Albus might say the words back but then after some hesitation, he said, "I know, dad."

While he could not help from being slightly disappointed, it was completely understandable how a fourteen-year-old awkward teenager would hesitate to say "I love you" to his dad, so he gave him an understanding smile when they let go.

"Happy New Year, Albus. Hopefully this will be a year of peace and quiet for you." Perhaps that was not the best thing to say, Harry kicked himself immediately after saying that. The best way to help someone forget a traumatic experience was not to refer to it in any way at all.

His son's features darkened for a millisecond there before giving him a smile, "I hope so too."

* * *

A/N: I have been deliberately avoiding to write James until now as it's tricky to create new personas, especially for a character that should have been a big part of any Next-gen story but only got minimal stage time in CC. I have read other fanfictions in which James played a big part and have enjoyed others' versions a lot but I don't want them to influence my take of the character. At the same time, I couldn't write a version that's untrue to what we know from the books and the script.

I decided to write him now as I feel like my story can benefit from a bit of Potter-family dynamic, of course Harry, Albus and Ginny are the important characters here but something that bothered me in the play was that the trio + Ginny all went to Godric's Hollow without thinking about their (other) children at all. It's somewhat understandable when one of your children's life is in danger with the limited stage time but in a way, I feel like real parents shouldn't be able to all join what could be a suicide mission like that. I understand why it's done but I do want to show that James(and Lily, even though it's not shown here) are as important to Harry as Albus is.

PS: a hug with Ron may have been inspired by a certain still from the play.


	25. A Mother's Hug

The rest of the winter break had been rather uneventful, not that Harry had been able to see for himself with his hectic work schedule. According to Ginny, who had secretly cast a special monitor spell, which would alert her if there was any strange human sound, in Albus' room every night, his son had not have another nightmare for the rest of the break. This came as quite a relief to Harry, who was able to talk himself into hoping that Albus' nightmares were rare occurrences that would not pose much disturbance to the boy's emotional wellbeing and daily life after all.

After putting in more overtime earlier in the week, Harry was able to take the whole morning off on the first Thursday of the year so that he could see his children off at King's Cross station after their winter break. Despite arriving home at one o'clock the previous night, Harry was up at seven thirty this morning in order to cook his children a homemade breakfast before their long train ride. He had just finished mixing his pancake batter when he heard Ginny joining him in the kitchen.

"Aww, you are so sweet, love. I was just gonna feed our kids bread or cereals for breakfast. Wait till they see this." Ginny had reached his side and picked up a spoon to dip into the batter, which she proceeded to taste in her mouth.

"How many times do I have to tell you that raw batter is not safe to eat, Gin?"

"I just can't resist, dear. I swear I will drink a whole bowl of this one of these days, at least I used a spoon this time. The original is so good that I really don't get our kids' preference for fruit-flavoured ones at all. But well," She had her arms crossed with a hand holding her chin while surveying his other ingredients on the counter, which included strawberries, blueberries and bananas, "how lucky am I to have such a dedicated father, who would cook a different kind of pancake for _each_ of our children, as my husband? Who need 'the boy who lived' when you can have 'the boy who cooks'?"

Harry coughed at the rather awful pun, he could feel his ears warmed when he said, "I'm really flattered, Gin, but I hate to break it to you, I think Ron has rubbed off on you." Ginny's look of adoration had disappeared so fast that he instantly regretted to have spoken at all. But then both of them immediately got distracted when they heard someone reached the ground floor, they looked out to the living room to see their youngest son let out a yawn with his uncontrollable hair sticking out all over the place, which looked identical to his own.

"You're up so early, love." Ginny had turned into her most caring mother mode as quickly as her affectionate wife mode had disappeared a moment ago.

"Good morning, mum and dad." The boy smiled towards them with half-closed eyes. "I want to arrive at the platform a little early today. Scorpius wrote in his last letter that he would like to say hi to you two."

"Aww… that's so sweet of Scorpius, I would like to wish him a happy new year as well. I barely got to talk to him last time on the platform at all." Ginny happily replied. Between the two of them, Ginny was the one who had brought Albus to the Manor every summer holiday that she had even talked to Draco's late wife Astoria more than once in the past, and thus the one with the better relationship with the young Malfoy. Draco shared a somewhat cordial relationship with Ginny before the Time Turner incident but now that he could call the older Malfoy a friend, he was cautiously optimistic that he would be able to get Draco to warm up to Ginny.

After the initial surprise that Scorpius would like to greet them specifically had worn off, Harry found his heart warmed unexpectedly to the thought of this well-mannered and smiley boy. No wonder Albus always lighted up whenever Scorpius Malfoy was mentioned.

* * *

As soon as Albus had arrived onto Platform 9 ¾ at half past ten in the morning, he started rushing down the platform in search of the blonde-haired boy. A wide grin broke out on the young Slytherin's face the moment he spotted his smiley best-friend, who was enthusiastically waving his arm and excitedly calling out his name at almost the end of the platform, with his father standing next to him. His son rapidly picked up his pace that he seemingly arrived in front of Scorpius in no time, then he immediately wrapped the young Malfoy in a hug. Albus had told Harry that he had not hugged Scorpius before the start of this school year, which seemed rather unbelievable looking at this hug and considering his observation that they hugged _all the times_ these days. Harry thought to himself as he and Ginny had reached the boys, after sharing a brief hug with James and Lily, who had quickly boarded the train in hope of reserving some of the better compartments, that the silly grin which was gracing Al's face at this moment was so much more preferable to the constant brooding frown in the previous few years and the heartbreaking look of fear and pain after his nightmare. He noticed that Ginny looked as happy for their child as he was.

"I miss you, Scorpius! How's your holiday?"

"It's absolutely wonderful! We have been to a few coastal towns, both Muggles and wizarding, and I had a stroll on a breathtaking beach… too bad dad wouldn't let me go into the water." Somehow Harry just could not picture his former nemesis on a beach at all… with his ridiculously fancy dress suit.

"It's winter, Scorpius. Of course I did not want you to get sick." Draco supplied matter-of-factly.

"It wasn't even that cold in France… By the way, Albus, _that's_ the best thing about southern France, it's so warm and sunny over there! This was the first time I have ever been there at this time of year so I didn't know how comfy it would be. I wish England could be this warm in winter. And I haven't finished telling you about the beach, the water is so clear and blue..."

The young Malfoy was talking a mile a minute with such excitement that Albus was openly laughing at his friend, Harry found himself unexpectedly let out a hearty laugh as well. At this, Scorpius looked up at him and stopped abruptly, looking mortified. "Oh, that's so rude of me! I was too excited to catch up with Albus that I didn't see you at all, sir. I-I… am so sorry. Good morning, Mr and Mrs Potter, thank you again for the amazing Christmas day." The perfect-mannered boy inclined his head a little as he greeted the Potters.

Harry smiled and said, "That's quite alright, Scorpius. But you seriously don't have to thank me again for Christmas, especially when you've already given us the lovely flowers." Scorpius looked very pleased of himself. "I'm so glad you had so much fun in your break. I hope you had a nice time too, Draco."

His new friend clearly was not expected to be addressed, "Hmm, yes I did. It has been a while since I have last gotten away somewhere with my family. Scorpius was happy and it was all that counted." Draco gave the back of his boy's head a fatherly pat, which brought a softer smile on Scorpius' face as he turned and gave his father a tender look. The Malfoys seemed to share a really natural and caring father-son relationship these days that Harry found himself feeling unreasonably proud of Draco, despite not being sure if it was his place to feel so.

The Malfoys turned back to the Potters, then Ginny took her opportunity to talk to the blonde boy.

"Scorpius, I didn't get a chance to thank you for your flowers yet, they were so gorgeous."

"I...I'm really happy you liked them, Mrs Potter. Flowers were one of my mum's favourite things in the world that we want to keep them alive. It would please her to know that others like her flowers as well." Despite bringing up his mother when the topic had been least expected, Scorpius was remembering his mum fondly without getting emotional. Ginny, a mother of three, however, could barely keep herself from sounding thick when she said with certainty, "Aw...Scorpius, I didn't just like them, I _loved_ your flowers." As pleased as the boy was for being appreciated, he looked a bit lost seeing Ginny clearly on the verge of getting emotional.

Ginny took a moment to take a deep breath, before turning to Draco and said, "I need to ask you something, Draco."

"Hmm… yes?"

"Your son is way too adorable that I would like to give him a hug if you don't mind." Her tone was light but Harry could detect the emotion and yearning barely buried beneath the surface.

Draco coughed once embarrassingly before saying, "That's okay for me. You should be asking Scorpius instead of me anyway."

"May I?" Her voice was so gentle and kind when she slightly opened her arms as if she was talking to a young child of four instead of a fourteen-year-old teenager who was her height.

Scorpius was so dumbfounded that his jaw had dropped open. His pale face had turned red as a tomato in a matter of second when his gaze dropped and shyly nodded his consent. To everyone's surprise, Ginny proceeded to embrace Scorpius with such fierceness as if he had been her own. The boy at first had appeared winded and unsure about what to do with his arms, but then he hesitantly wound his arms behind her back until he slowly relaxed into it and was firmly hugging her back as well. Harry was reminded of the way Molly Weasley had given him the first motherly hug he had ever felt, in that long night after he had returned from the Third Task after witnessing Voldemort's return and Cedric's death. He thought about how his wife had happily reported that their son's best friend was lovely back when she had first visited the Malfoy Manor. Thanks for the flexibility of her job, she had always been there to receive the young Malfoy heir when he had, in turn, visited the Potters' home every summer. She was the one who had always made the efforts to be friendly to Scorpius and to make Albus talk about the friendship all these times, way before the Time Turner incidents and his own new-found mission to make up for the boy.

"I didn't get to tell you that night, Scorpius. Thank you _so much_ for being there for Albus all through that terrible experience. I couldn't even imagine what would have happened had you not been there… Albus is _so lucky_ to have you as his friend." Harry saw a tear escaped her eye, it was startling to see her cry as Ginny had been his rock all these years that she rarely cried in front of her family, let alone outsiders in such a public place. But then, perhaps she did love this nerdy boy the way Molly had loved himself in the past, he thought fondly about how generous these Weasley women had been with their love. They loved so openly and unreservedly, the world would surely be a much better place if there had been more of them.

"Thank you so much… M-Mrs Potter. Your... words, t-they mean the world to me." The boy was choking up that he struggled to get his words out, but he looked so moved with gratitude that all three males looking on could not help feeling affected as well. He was also holding on to Ginny as if he was afraid for her to let go, it did not take legilimency to understand that he was reminded of his own mother.

Albus, who had initially looked embarrassed on her behalf when Ginny had started to get emotional, had been shocked when she first asked the question. As the shock had subsided, his look turned melancholic as he realised his own mother was trying to offer his best friend the maternal love that had been sorely missed for almost a year and a half, however temporary and insufficient it would be. He looked so uncomfortable as he alternately turned towards and away from the hug the whole time. Harry guessed that Al must be feeling somewhat embarrassed but he was absolutely unwilling to interrupt knowing how much his friend needed that, which did not mean he liked looking at the hug much though.

Draco, on the other hand, steadily looked on with a sad smile on his face. He might not be Ginny's biggest fan but he obviously recognised how valuable her hug was to his precious son, something that he would never be able to give the boy no matter how hard he tried. For that he seemed grateful but perhaps there was a bit of sadness there for realising the impossibility for him to provide for all of Scorpius' needs as well as for the loss of Astoria, the most giving woman he had known whose chances to express her love to her son through hugs and kisses had been cruelly stripped away by death.

While Harry was very glad about the hug, he was feeling jealous as well. For quite some times now he had been trying to make things right with Scorpius and he knew that his quest would never feel complete without apologising for real. On the one hand, he had been feeling that the longer he delayed it, the more awkward it would be, especially when he was now in friendly terms with him. On the other hand, he simply could not bear to do it in front of either Albus or Draco because he had been feeling too embarrassed, which made him feel extremely pathetic as a forty-year-old. The one time he had been able to talk to Scorpius himself was during the Floo call on Christmas day when the boy could only see his head, he had other priorities at the time and it really did not feel like the proper time to do that. He wondered when he would get another chance to talk to him in private next. Looking at the hug, he inevitably felt a bit jealous of his wife, who, being female, could get away from doing this sort of thing in public without looking creepy to others, but perhaps it was just his own problem. That being said, he could relate with the hug in so many levels that he could feel his tears threatening to fall.

* * *

A/N: I would like to acknowledge a very special milestone for this story- it has just past 10000 views. I know that it may not be a lot for others and it's much easier when the story has 25 chapters, but it's still something I could never imagine happening when I first started. I have been working on this for six months and of course, there have been ups and downs. I know that the HPCC fandom is relatively small comparing to the general HP fandom and even with next-gen stories, scorbus and scorose are much more popular than my type of story with no ship and arguably not much going on that there have been times when I have wondered if I should do ships or book fanfics. There have also been times after I have updated, when previous followers would decide to unfollow or when there was almost no comment, when I couldn't help from doubting my own writing or the directions that I have chosen. I know that while I do want to please my readers and you are a big reason that I write, ultimately, I write for myself and I want to write the story I want to tell.

Another thing that has fascinated me the most is how international my readership is. As I have said, English is not my first language so when I had first started writing, I had imagined that I would get corrected by my readers a lot, which wouldn't be a bad thing but I did hope to be taken seriously as a writer. Almost a year later, it's flattering to know that my stories are being read by a lot of native speakers as well as people from all around the globe. So for all of you who have stuck with me for so long, I just want to say a big thank you for your continuous support. I have a full-time job so it isn't always easy to find time to write but I hope to be able to keep it up until I finish it.

Please comment, your comments often make my days =)


	26. The Sendoff

When they finally pulled apart, Ginny's hands rested on Scorpius' shoulders as she said, "Have a wonderful term, Scorpius."

"T-thank you, Mrs Potter." While his eyes were red from crying and there were clear tracks of tears on his cheeks, his smile was one of the happiest and most brilliant Harry had ever seen, and he had seen a fair share of genuine Scorpius' smiles from Christmas day. Clearly, the rest of this odd trio looking on agreed as well based on their serious but pleased looks.

Ginny had dropped her hands to her sides, "You can call me Ginny, Scorpius."

The boy sniffled loudly then gave her a sheepish smile, "I don't think I would ever be able to get used to calling you or Mr Potter by your first names… somehow that just seems a bit disrespectful, it feels especially wrong to call your first names in front of Al-"

"There you are, Harry." He turned to see Ron standing right behind of him with Rose and Hugo. "It's getting so crowded here so early but I must say, it's much easier for me to spot you when you are standing with ponytail over here."

Draco rolled his eyes but did not rise to his bait.

"Dad, I should get on the train…" Rose was talking to his dad when she took in Scorpius' appearance then asked hesitantly, "Bre… I mean, Scorpius, are you alright?"

"Good morning, Rose." Scorpius literally sangsong his greeting. "I feel absolutely wonderful! I had the most amazing Christmas day with Albus on the Manor, we built two snowmen and I had my very first snowball fight. It was the best Christmas ever! Then I went on a fantastic trip with my dad in France, the weather was so nice over there…" No one seeing Scorpius describing his Christmas like an excited five-year-old now could have doubted his happiness but Harry agreed that the boy's splotchy appearance was indeed alarming that Rose was right to feel worried.

"O-okay… I'm glad you're feeling great but I should go now." She turned away with her trunk before being grabbed by Ron, who would not release his daughter until she accepted his goodbye hug.

Meanwhile, Ginny had pulled out a handkerchief. "There, Scorpius." She held it out towards the boy, intending for him to take to wipe his face himself but hesitated there. The boy turned towards her, looked at the handkerchief with a faint sad smile but sensing her uncertainty, he did not reach out for it. For five seconds, which felt more like a minute to the bystanders, both of them seemed unsure about what to do until she shrugged exaggeratedly as if saying "screw it" before proceeding to gently wipe away Scorpius' tears herself. The whole thing was actually a bit counteractive as the poor boy looked as if he was about to tear up again any moment. Ron, who had returned after bidding Rose and Hugo farewell, seemed desperate to ask a thousand questions about what he was witnessing but painstakingly suppressed his curiosity.

* * *

It was about time for the boys to leave. Draco was talking to Scorpius, who kept nodding to what his father said, while Ginny was hugging Albus goodbye. She was whispering something to his ears that Harry could not hear, but it was okay because she deserved her private moment with their son. Of course the both of them could say their goodbyes together, but Harry believed that this would work better so he kept a little distance. Just like Ginny had reminded him that Albus needed to feel specific love from him, he thought it beneficial for the boy to feel specific love from each of his parents. He knew that he had been getting better but his wife had always been the more loving one, despite being tough as nails when she had to.

Now it was his turn, he moved in front of Albus while Ginny took a step aside. "Remember what I said, Albus. You can talk to me about anything anytime… If you ever need me, I can come up on a weekend like the last time we met, or I can have a talk with Professor McGonagall so we can even arrange something with the Floo. I'm just a letter away."

"I understand, dad. I appreciate it." replied the boy, who looked preoccupied but was not smiling.

"Y-you don't even have to talk to me… if you ever need to talk with someone. You could talk with your mum, Teddy, Neville … or Scorpius of course. Please don't bottle up your emotions, son, just make sure you talk to someone... when you need to." he asked almost pleadingly. He had not realised how concerned he was about Albus' returning to Hogwarts until this moment. While their relationship had continued to improve over the holiday, he had found it once again difficult to talk to the boy after learning about his nightmares as he had been worrying about ticking him off. Back in his own fifth year after Voldemort's return, he had been his most irritable self that he found himself snapping over everything. Even though his son had been more pleasant than ever over the break except for his brief snapping after the nightmare, he found himself overthinking about everything all the times, such as Al's lack of smile at the moment, that he wanted desperately to do something to help. He could not help feeling a bit humiliated by the way he was rambling on when he was nervous. After sixteen years, he still often felt like he knew absolutely nothing about being a father.

His son turned to look at his best friend at the mention of his name, which brought a gentle smile to Al's face. Scorpius was hugging Draco, who was returning the hug with one arm, and was easily saying, "I love you, dad." Draco had his eyes closed while taking a breath like he was trying to savour the moment.

"Thanks, dad… I'll think about it." Of course Albus would feel more comfortable sharing his deepest troubles with his best friend, he had shared almost everything with Hermione and Ron back in Hogwarts himself. Despite hoping that his son could confide in him someday, he was grateful that Albus had his own Hermione or Ron… No, Scorpius was unique that he did not need to be compared with his best friends, he thought to himself as he remembered how he had encouraged Albus to make a few more friends two years ago. His boy had retorted _But I don't need a Ron and Hermione. I've got a friend, Scorpius, and I know you don't like him but he's all I need._ It was a comfort to think that his son had known all along what he had needed. He wondered if he had been kinder to the young Malfoy all along, could he have been able to prevent the disasters from happening. Of course if Ginny were able to read his thoughts, he would likely be hexed in his face right now. He really should stop thinking about all the what-ifs, but he sure was grateful that Albus had Scorpius, a loyal and caring friend who had proved that he would do anything for him.

He was wearing an affectionate smile himself when he continued, "Well, I hope you have a great term, son. I will see you in the Easter break." Albus turned back to look at him for a few seconds, before both of them simultaneously tried to initiate a hug which resulted in them hugging at a rather awkward angle. It was a bit embarrassing but already a thousand times better than his last sendoff.

The red engine whistled for the first time as the fathers broke off their hugs. The boys turned and smiled towards each other.

"You should get going, Albus." He turned towards to blonde boy, "I hope you have a nice term too, Scorpius." The blonde boy nodded his thanks but he turned to stare at his father with a meaningful look as if urging him to do something. Everyone looked between the Malfoys as Draco blushed and tried to avoid his son's gaze. Scorpius persisted until his look turned from encouraging to disappointed, before the older Malfoy coughed, "Hmm," everyone looked at him curiously, "Harry?"

He answered unsurely "Yes?"

Until now Harry had not realised Draco had kept one hand behind him the whole time which was likely why he had hugged his boy with only one arm. He held this hand slowly out towards him to reveal a mundane-looking paper bag but stopped midway for a second before straightening his arm all the way. "Hmm… I got you something f-from our trip."

"Oh...thanks." He tentatively reached out to receive the bag. It was a bit awkward but he tried to give the Malfoys an accepting smile as he saw how his new friend looked visually nervous, which was so different from his usually dignified appearance, while Scorpius was beaming witnessing this. In retrospect, perhaps Scorpius had only written that he wanted to say hi to the Potters to make sure that his father would give this out and he would be there to witness it. From his peripheral vision, he could see that Ron's jaw had dropped again, just like their last time here. Ginny, however, was giving them an encouraging smile as well.

"I-it was nothing too expensive or special. Scorpius was always trying to look for something nice for his friends that I thought I might as well get a little something my..." It was so unlike Malfoy to trail off like this before finishing his sentence. Harry felt a bit sorry for Draco for ever feeling the need to justify giving out a present.

"I kept trying to explain to dad that shopping for friends is part of the fun of travelling. Anyway, we should go now, goodbye." Scorpius was about to turn away with a satisfied look after seeing his father's mission accomplished.

"Scorpius?" Everyone was stunned to see Ron called Scorpius for the first time, but no one was as startled as Scorpius himself. "Yes... M-Mr Weasley?"

"Hermione... and I want to thank you for your flowers." Thank Merlin that Ron remembered to thank the boy because he had completely forgotten about Hermione's request. It was Ron's turn to have all his blood pumped towards his face now.

"You are welcome, Mr Weasley. Thank you _so much_ for your presents as well, they are brilliant!" Harry believed that out of everyone he knew, Scorpius had to be the person who gave the most sincere thanks.

"Hm… No problem." Ron gave a bashful smile, which the boy returned with a much more genuine one before helping Albus to move his trunk onto the train. Apparently, he had already reserved a compartment with his own trunk in advance. When Harry looked up to the compartment window, he realised that Rose had once again opted to sit with the Slytherin boys that she had been an attentive audience to all that had been happening just now. James and Lily had come to the last compartment to say hi with Ron, as well as saying another goodbye to them, before the train whistled again and began to pull away as the four parents there waved their children goodbye.

* * *

"Harry, when do you have to arrive in the office?" Ginny asked.

He instinctively looked at his watch even though he knew that the Hogwarts Express always departed at eleven. "At two." He could totally see where this was going.

"Harry and I are going to have lunch somewhere, would you two like to join us?" She was asking both Draco and Ron but was only making eye contact with Draco while giving him her friendliest smile.

"Sure, I can go back to the store anytime I want." Ron replied quickly but he was looking at Malfoy too, his expression looked relatively neutral but he had straightened his neck a little like he was eager to know Draco's answer as well.

"Thank you for your invitation, but I should get going. Thank you for everything you all have done for Scorpius as well, they meant a lot to us. Goodbye."

"Malfoy?" Draco was turning away when Ron once again surprised them for different reasons, Harry was surprised that he seemed to be able to follow through on his promise while Ginny had no idea why Ron would stop Draco at all as Ron's present was one of the few things from Christmas that he had not told her.

"Yes?" Draco had turned back with the most puzzled look that had ever graced his face.

"Can I talk to you in private for a minute?" For the second time of the day, Ron's face looked almost as red as his hair.

"Hm…" His new friend looked rather hesitant as if thinking over what possibly was there for Ron Weasley to talk to him about or debating whether Ron had any malicious intentions that he instinctively looked towards Harry for answers. He gave Draco an encouraging nod and smile. After a beat, he said, "I guess so."

Ron moved towards his former rival while the Potters stepped about two metres away to give them some privacy. Harry knew he probably should not be looking towards them at all but he could not resist.

"Do you know what is going on, Harry?" Ginny gave him a questioning look after silently waiting for half a minute.

"I might but sorry I can't tell you unless Ron let me. All I can tell you is, this is quite an admirable thing for Ron to do, especially because he has held grudges against Draco for so many years."

"Okay… by the way, I don't think I have heard it wrong but did Scorpius say Ron had given him a present?" Ginny gave the blonde and ginger men a look as if asking _does it have anything to do with this?_

He sighed, he had never been good at lying but he had absolutely no hope against his wife. "Hmm… I think so." He did not even know whether he was answering her spoken or unspoken question. Ginny would have continued her passive interrogation had there not been a significant change in the men's interaction. Until now Ron had been the one doing most of the talking while Draco occasionally responded with a few words and a nod or two, however, just then Draco had started to say something earnestly which ended with him slightly bowing his head. If there was any question about whether this had been expected, one only had to look at Ron's o-shaped mouth and wide eyes to see the answer. They exchanged a few more words before both of them started back towards them, with Ron lagging a little behind.

"Harry and Ginny, I have to leave now. Have a good day." Malfoy looked all business while Ron was looking rather shell-shocked.

"Draco?"

"Yes?" He raised an eyebrow for being stopped again that it looked like he was meaning to say _Now what?_ instead, at least he had not started turning away this time.

"I have gotten a chance to talk with Teddy about him meeting Scorpius, he liked the idea very much. My plan is to have you two meet with Teddy and Andromeda at the same time, so I would still need to have a talk with her, if this is okay for you."

His look turned solemn but seemed a little embarrassed for having appeared annoyed earlier. "Of course, that would be the most appropriate and respectful thing to do, especially after she had shown us such graciousness at my mother's funeral... Thank you for organising, Harry. Please let me know if you require any help." The longer he had really gotten to know Draco, the more obvious his noble upbringing had appeared to him, which of course might as well be invisible to him in Hogwarts when his former nemesis had been acting like a prat all the times.

"I'm thinking about a more relaxed dinner at my home during the Easter break, so it should not be much trouble. I will let you know if there is anything." They exchanged a bit more pleasantries before Malfoy left the three of them.

"What's wrong with you, Ron? You have looked so strange since your talk with Draco." Ginny asked in a slightly concerned tone.

"Hm… I apologised to Malfoy about including a toy ferret in a present to his son, as I had promised Harry. He accepted it rather readily… but the ponytail… he kind of took the opportunity to apologise for almost poisoning me to death just now, after twenty-four years… I can't believe it…" This took even Harry by surprise, but if Draco was willing to take the initiative to make peace with Ron after so many years, perhaps making both of his best friends befriend their former enemy was not too much to hope for.

Later, when he looked into the paper bag of present Draco had given him, Harry realised there was also a thick letter sealed with silky green wax laced with gold.

* * *

A/N: I know that my chapter titles are boring. I was actually so tempted to name this chapter "3 emotionally stunted idiots" (imagine if Harry, Ron and Draco form a support group or something) but it would stick out too much among the other titles :P

By the way, I have rarely PM replied signed reviews before last week because I had a bad experience doing so before that I genuinely was not sure what's the done thing here and was afraid of creeping people out. Sorry for the people who have reviewed before but I will try to PM reply all of the future signed reviews from now on because reviews mean so much to me. Your words have kept me going for so long that I would love to communicate with you in a less passive way but feel free to let me know if you would prefer not receiving PM.


	27. Draco's Letter

There was nothing remarkable about the chocolates Draco had gotten him but the letter that came with it was not only surprisingly long for Harry, but also unbelievably deep and personal given who its writer was.

" _Dear Harry,_

 _To be honest, I really do not know how to write such a letter but saying a proper thank you for what you have done for us is the least I could do after you have made such differences to our Christmas and relationship. I suppose it would be hard for you to understand how big a difference Albus and you have made without knowing how a Malfoy Christmas was supposed to be like before Astoria's death and how Scorpius and I were virtual strangers last year._

 _Christmas day had always been one of Scorpius' favourite days of the year and even though we had been isolated from the public, Astoria always managed to make the holiday so perfect for us that we fancied ourselves the happiest family in the world. She was a particularly artistic witch that she always thoroughly decorated the Manor with the most gorgeous display of lights, ornaments, flowers, magical snow and most importantly, Christmas trees. We would have Christmas trees in the sitting room, the library, which has always been Scorpius' favourite room, and the dining room. Although she had always been physically weak, she was capable of completing the decoration for the entire Manor with a few spells within half an hour, but she would always leave the large Christmas tree in the sitting room bare, so she could decorate with Scorpius together. The two of them would spend hours putting up their favourite ornaments while giggling and sharing jokes the whole time a few days before Christmas._

 _Ever since our boy was born, she would buy him three presents herself and had me picked another present every Christmas, not because she was the kind of mother to spoil her child, it was more because of her knowledge that she would not be there for him long that she wanted to shower him with as much love as possible while she could. Also, it was her way to compensate him for not having enough relatives who would give him presents. Of course one of them would always be a book since we had learned how much of a bookworm the boy was, another of them would always be sweets, and there would be something else special. The few presents would be neatly tucked underneath the tree in the sitting room by Christmas morning. Since Scorpius' first year, there would be one more from Albus, another more from you two as well as one other present since the year after. Scorpius would excitedly wake us up before eight to open the presents together on Christmas morning, and no matter how tired she would be, she would insist to wake up early that day for her baby._

 _She was artistic in more than one sense of the word as she was also musically talented. She loved playing the piano but she could not have played as much as she had wanted due to her health. Christmas, however, was one occasion when she would always take at least an hour to play most of their favourite holiday songs, while both Scorpius and her would sing together to the music, they had all the lyrics memorised. When Scorpius had been younger, he would even sit right next to her in front of the piano. Although I am usually not a fan of music, I had never missed out on their annual concert while silently reading on the other side of the room. At night she would have other music played and force me on my feet so we could have our own little ball, dancing to our audience of one, our little boy._

 _While Astoria had many talents, cooking had never been a talent of hers. She had first baked what would later become her signature chocolate-cinnamon-almond Christmas cake on Scorpius' third Christmas and it tasted awful at the time, but what she lacked in talent, she made up with stubbornness and persistence. She had experimented for at least a dozen of times before perfecting her recipe by the next Christmas, when it immediately became Scorpius' favourite Christmas food. Since his sixth Christmas, Scorpius would act as her little assistant whenever she baked the cake and it would become another of their favourite holiday traditions._

 _These were only some of our many precious memories but I suppose I have already written way too much. Long story short, Scorpius and I associate Christmas with her in a million different ways, which ensures that the holiday will surely be a very difficult one to endure for years to come after her passing._

 _I do not know if you are aware about this but last year's Christmas at the Manor was a complete disaster. As you know, it was not long after her death so the pain was still acutely felt by the both of us then, to the point that Christmas felt almost not worth celebrating at all. In the days leading to Christmas, I gave our house-elves a few simple orders to decorate the whole Manor and to prepare a dinner with all of my son's favourite foods but other than that, I basically left them to their own devices. Scorpius either kept to himself in the library or his own room or silently staring into the distance a lot these days. I had tried to reach out to him a lot but whenever I had mentioned her, he would end up getting upset and start tearing up that three days into the holiday, I was totally at a loss for words since our conversation topics had always been scarce that I was basically afraid to talk with him. It was not until Christmas' Eve when I realised I had not even have a present picked out that I hastily went to Diagon Alley to get him something that evening._

 _Unlike the previous years, Scorpius did not wake me up but both of us had troubles sleeping that we were up before eight anyway. With a heavy heart, I slowly approached the sitting room, feeling anxious about what I would see when I enter, and for good reasons. I suspect the forlorn look my precious boy wore while inspecting the tastelessly decorated Christmas tree and later staring at his pitiable small pile of four presents would be ingrained in my head for the rest of my days. It was in that moment when I realised how much I had failed my family, my son for not doing more to cheer him up that I had not even gotten multiple presents like she would, and Astoria for not taking better care of her son. She had had so much faith that he would be okay because I would be there to comfort him in her place when the time came but instead I was a pathetic excuse for a father._

 _I entered the room and said, "Merry Christmas, Scorpius." He stared at me for a long time before finally returning the holiday greeting with an impassive look. There was so much I wanted to tell him but I simply could not get the words out to tell him that I was sorry, that I would always be there for him and that everything would be okay. I held out the one present which should not be left beneath the tree, a letter written by her in her final days, for him without saying a word. His eyes welled up with tears within seconds after realising what it was, before receiving the letter with trembling hands. I should have stayed in the room but I had already become way too overwhelmed that I left the room and left my boy to read the letter himself. I wanted to return after ten minutes but could not bring myself to enter when I reached the door as I heard him weep. He had curled up into a ball and somehow, he looked as small as a toddler to me but I was completely glued to the spot. I cowardly left without comforting him in any way._

 _For the rest of the day, both of us kept to ourselves except for two hours when I silently joined him to read in the library. I later learned that Scorpius had spent his whole morning and afternoon there and while he had reread her letter two times and had ended up tearing up again both times, it had been his best friend's five-page-long letter which had helped him gotten through the day the most. Predictably, dinner was another catastrophe in which both of us barely ate anything. I tried to ask if he was okay but could only get monosyllable words out of his mouth._

 _Although it broke my heart to learn of the boys' sufferings in Delphi's hands, I cannot pretend that I am not grateful of their adventures in some ways as for the first time in a long time, Scorpius trusted me and felt connected with me enough to share his feelings about these adventures, about his friendship with Albus and other things. Knowing how much he needed me emotionally, I was finally able to break down my barrier to force myself to be a comforter. After failing him so completely last Christmas and for the traumas they had endured, I promised myself to truly be there for Scorpius this Christmas._

 _I have gotten three presents for him two weeks in advance this year. At the beginning of the break, we spent a whole day at Diagon Alley together so he could pick up presents for his friends and he completely lost himself in Flourish and Blotts. I decorated most of the Manor with spells as it would have taken Scorpius too long without magic but let him add in his touches wherever he deemed necessary. I did not join Scorpius to decorate the tree in the sitting room myself but I sat nearby to offer suggestions and levitate ornaments for him._

 _Things were looking good on the day before Christmas but I was still terrified by the thought of spending so many hours with him on Christmas day. Her death had coloured all those enchanting memories grey that I was sure he would get upset if we try to replicate our earlier Christmases but it would be disrespectful and wrong to honour none of our previous holiday traditions. I was tempted to get away for the whole break but as much as it would hurt, we needed to stay close to our home in order to feel close to her. The memories might be painful but they needed to be kept alive. I did suggest a trip away after the actual day and he looked reasonably pleased about it but I honestly had no idea how we would be able to get through the day. Therefore, words are inadequate to describe how relieved I have felt to receive your letter._

 _Scorpius had been in a lovely mood that day, which had already been a big step up from the misery of last year, but he was absolutely ecstatic when I read your letter out loud to him that he squealed in delight. I believe he had said nothing else for half an hour except that one sentence he had written then "Oh Merlin, I'm SO excited that Albus is coming for Christmas!" which of course I did not mind in the slightest as Albus would be and had already been the perfect distraction the boy needed to get through the holiday. I ordered the house-elves to prepare a more elaborate breakfast instead of lunch and to incorporate food that Albus likes according to Scorpius. For the rest of the night, my son excitedly talked about everything he wanted to do with Albus on Christmas day that I felt hopeful that the day would turn out to be good and happy, a Christmas Scorpius deserved after everything he had been through. Still, I could not sleep well and woke up before six._

 _I have briefly considered staying in my room in case Scorpius wanted to wake me up like before but I could not be sure when he would wake and what he would do. I could not wake him up myself as I wanted to let him sleep as much as he wanted so I ended up waiting early at the sitting room to make sure that I would be there when he opened his presents this year. I had placed my presents for him under the tree the previous night but I did not want to look at the pile before Scorpius had entered. When he appeared ten minutes later, he greeted me cheerfully but pretended to look annoyed for having knocked on my empty door for three minutes. I was just thinking the day was off to a nice start when he turned towards his pile of presents and froze. I had three presents for him but had not expected more people to get him presents so we were both expecting around six presents. Of course I could afford a hundred presents but I knew that after three, additional presents from me would lose all meanings for him._

 _I was stunned to see almost a dozen presents in his pile when I checked it out myself. He did not react for a long time, until he finally turned to ask me if I had gotten him seven or so presents with a nervous laugh, to which I told him I have only gotten three like she would. He turned back then sat next to the pile and slowly started inspecting them one by one with the dumbfounded expression still in place. He treated them with reverence as if they were so much more than presents, by taking his time to study the wrappings, read the greeting cards before carefully picking at the edges of the wrapping paper. With each present, he somehow got more and more giggly that I did not even mind seeing a toy ferret of all things from Weasley's present, despite my involuntary overreaction._

 _Of course you are aware that Albus' visit was a whirlwind of excitement to the Manor that I have not seen my son as happy for ages. After your departure, we had a light lunch where he excitedly told me about everything they had done. Then we spent a few quiet hours in the sitting room where he read, tried to play the piano and played with his toy rat and ferret. Those toy animals cheered him up so much that I am seriously considering getting him another pet other than his owl. A real ferret will definitely be out of the question though._

 _The illusion of a perfect Christmas kept up until the end of dinner, which was again much more pleasant than last year's meal, when Scorpius retreated to the library himself. I had an inkling about what I would see when I joined him in the room later but this did not make it any easier. The boy was sitting by the fireplace on her usual armchair with her favourite blanket wrapped around his slim body while reading her letter from last Christmas. I could immediately tell from the way his shoulders were shaking that he was crying, all the way from the opposite side of the room. He seemed oblivious to my presence the whole time I was walking towards him but the moment I reached him, he immediately raised his head to look straight into my eyes with his own bloodshot and shiny eyes and told me he missed her. This was the second time he had ever cried into my arms but his first time confessing how much he missed her._

 _I am pretty sure that you have heard the way he has exclaimed "This is the best Christmas ever!". He has said that no less than thirty times that day but deep down, both of us knew well that he has been lying. It could be his way of trying to talk himself into believing that it was true or he was trying hard to pretend to be having the best time for my and Albus' sake but her absence had been deeply felt the whole day, even during his snowball fight with Albus. That said, he did acknowledge that he truly had a great time that it was the best Christmas possible for him and part of the reason he cried was because he was moved to tears by all the kindness he had received from stranger and his best friend alike. It may sound like Albus' visit did not make that much a difference but I can assure you that it made all the difference. Without his visit, Scorpius likely could not even have felt an illusion of happiness. I suspect that we would have spent the whole day sitting around reading and having small talks but he would certainly keep his emotions to himself in fear of upsetting me. Having so much excitement on the day allowed him to release his deeper emotions and for us to truly talk about her for the first time since her death, for that I am extremely grateful. Although we will continue to miss her for a long time, it is easier to talk about her to reminisce about the good memories together than to suffer alone._

 _I had spent a lot of time in France with Astoria from our engagement to the early days of our marriage because we could feel comfortable to be ourselves there without being recognised by everyone for my past. We loved southern France the most as I preferred less-crowded places and its weather suited her better. Scorpius had been to France quite a few times but things had changed substantially since his birth that as nice as those later trips had been, they had simply been not the same. He did not know too much about all the precious memories we had had there and I had suggested the destination of our holiday trip in hope that we would be able to fondly talk about her. Even though she had always lived with her curse, she had never let it define her in her youth that she had actually been lively, adventurous to an extent and fun-loving as a young adult. With her powerful magic, no one would have dared to underestimate her before the curse had taken its toll. I wanted him to get to know this side of her that he had been unfamiliar with._

 _For the most part, the trip and our talks were pretty much what I had expected as we visited many of the places which held special memories for us and stayed at the villa I had bought for her years ago. I had not realised how much I had craved talking about her but it felt as if something had been unlocked that words just spilled out of my mouth that I could not talk enough about her. I had expected to talk with him about all those memories from our carefree days before his birth, but it was also nice how he became willing to share both his happier and sadder memories in school. I know I have not said this enough but I owe your son so much, especially for defending Scorpius from bullies from the very beginning and just being there for him the previous year when he had been most miserable. My boy has mentioned no less than ten times over the trip that Albus was pretty much the only reason he survived Hogwarts in his darkest days. He loved talking to his best friend so much that he seemed determined to make up for all the conversations he missed by writing all the times. I could talk with him all I wanted on the day when we were out, but as soon as we returned to the villa, he would start writing letters and would end up writing three to four pages every day. On top of writing letters and reading books, he also spent a surprising amount of time playing with his toy animals there as if they were truly alive. When I tried to get him to spend some indoor time with me, he encouraged me to write like him instead, which was actually the biggest reason I have started writing this letter at the first place._

 _It is also kind of heart-warming but bittersweet that he has been worried about me since her passing. He knows how crucial Albus' comfort had been for him to cope with his grief so he had been worried that I had been lonely with nobody to talk to all these times. I am willing to bet that of all people, Scorpius was the happiest to find out that you had accepted my offer from thirty years ago that day. This has also been helpful as before now, I had almost nothing to talk about with my son except Astoria and to ask how he was doing in school. He requested to know every single detail about our conversation on Christmas day and I hope you would not mind that I have mentioned to him that you will try to introduce Teddy to him. He has been extremely excited and has even screamed something about Christmas tree, which I hope you will be able to enlighten me about._

 _It probably has not been too appropriate for me to unload all of my personal burdens, which had been weighing on my mind for quite some time, on you as we are not that close, but it turned out that Scorpius had been right that I do need to talk or write to someone about this. I think I can understand now why he always talks or writes to Albus about everything. I do not even know if I will be able to give this out but thank you again for what you have done for us, and if you are reading the end here, thank you for taking the time to read this. I suppose it is not the same as having someone there to listen to you saying all you would like to say, but just the writing in itself has been unexpectedly helpful for me. Please do not feel obliged to reply and since I owe you a huge favour, please let me know if you ever need something from me._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Draco Malfoy"_

* * *

A/N: First of all, thank you so much for everyone who has commented last chapter, your comments made me so happy and it has been lovely to chat with you. I am really regretting not replying reviews before because I feel like I have been missing out on a lot. I hope that those of you who have reviewed will review again and other readers, both old and new, will give this a try as I would love the opportunity to chat with more of you.

Anyway, sorry for the delay again, I have been very busy lately and I wanted to post this whole letter in one chapter as some emotional impact would be lost if I split it up, so the chapter itself is about 1k words longer than my usual chapters. Also, this has been quite a tricky chapter to write because I feared that if I don't get the tone and content right, Draco may appear OOC to some of you so I wanted to avoid that at all costs.

What I see happening here is that Draco had a terrible time after Astoria's death with no one to comfort him and to talk to but since his childhood, he had always learned to hide his feelings that it had felt ok for him despite being lonely, missing her and worrying about Scorpius so much. I believe he had only ever revealed his emotions and feelings to Astoria but then he found an unlikely friend in Harry in CC and over Christmas here. As stated, he had started writing about her as he believed Harry wouldn't even understand how important Albus' visit had been without context. He had meant to write just a little about her but once he had started, a floodgate was opened and before he knew it, he had started pouring out all those memories, thoughts and emotions because they had been bottling up for so long. (also he was stuck at the holiday home every night where his son would spend all his time writing/ reading) He probably felt like he shouldn't be writing all of that even during his writing process but he just couldn't stop by now, not to mention there was a small part of him that actually yearned to share his past with a friend, something he had never had until now. Also, he had not felt comfortable requesting Harry to send Albus back the following Christmases but was secretly hoping that by being honest about how big a difference Al had made to his family, Harry would volunteer to do that again. But I imagine that even though he was finally relieving all of his emotional burden here, he's not the kind of person to write too sentimentally that the narrative has to be straightforward without revealing too much of his emotions.


	28. Condolences

Harry was absolutely in shock by the time he finally lowered Draco's letter on his desk. There was so much information to digest that he had already reread it once, still it was too much. He distractedly fingered the pages and counted that his former nemesis had written seven full pages in his delicate handwriting to him about his personal life. Although Draco had been the one to volunteer the information, he inevitably felt guilty as if he had been the one who had pried and had invaded Malfoy's deepest thoughts by reading his journal instead of a letter addressed to himself. On the one hand, he felt like he had not earned the right to learn so much about his new friend and he could not see himself volunteering as much personal detail about his own life to Malfoy anytime soon. On the other hand, it was actually rather flattering that Malfoy would trust himself so much to share some of his most treasured memories, his regrets and even some personal details about Scorpius to him.

Over the next few days, he had wanted to reply to the letter but had been preoccupied with work as always, not to mention he had no idea how he should go about it anyway. He could not really get over the fact that his former rival had essentially poured his heart out to _him. Potter_ … He did not even have to close his eyes to hear the disdain in Draco's voice whenever he had pronounced his name back in Hogwarts as if it had been vermin, there was a part of him which still found it so surreal that they were friends now. Although Malfoy had written that he did not have to reply, he felt in his heart that it would be extremely rude and basically wrong for him not to at least acknowledge that he had read it and understood what Draco had been through, especially when he genuinely wanted to become better friends with him. He had mentioned the more factual information from the letter to Ginny, leaving out the more personal parts about Astoria and Scorpius as it had not been his place to share Draco's secrets to anyone. Being the intuitive person she was, of course his wife could tell that there was so much more but thankfully, she understood how important it was for him to keep the letter's content to himself and never asked him to elaborate, but this also meant that he had no one to talk to regarding the emotional turmoil he had reading the letter.

Draco had painted such a vivid picture of the typical Malfoy family's Christmas and his struggles after Astoria's death that Harry found himself unconsciously starting to imagine how terrible he would be at taking care of his three children himself if anything had happened to Ginny. Albus was the same age as Scorpius that it was not difficult to understand how much the boy had still needed his mother at the time of her death. Harry knew it must have been simultaneously harder and easier to lose a parent as a teenager than losing her as an one-year-old like himself. Having so many beautiful memories with her meant there was something for Scorpius to hold on to later in his life that he would not need to wonder about everything about his mother and asking as many what-ifs all the times as he had done in the past with his parents, but this also made it that much harder for Scorpius to move past the loss. Harry might not have known Astoria but having heard about her from Draco and Ginny and now having read about her in such detail, he pictured her as a young mother who had shared a lot of similarities with his own mother, which again made him feel sorry for not shielding the boys from witnessing his parents' murders. What must have been going through Scorpius' head at the time when he had witnessed Lily sacrificing her life for Harry as an infant? In a way, Astoria had done the exact same thing for Scorpius by giving birth despite her curse.

If the Malfoy's traditional Christmas had been bittersweet to read, the previous Christmas had certainly been the most upsetting part to get through, so it came as quite a relief to learn about how much an impact Albus' visit had been to the Malfoys, despite the more soberer moments in the evening. Harry felt his heart warmed with affections towards his best friends' family, who had given the young Malfoy three extra presents, and thus had played a rather significant part in making this Christmas special for Scorpius. Being the compassionate person Hermione had always been, others' teasing would not deter her from doing the right thing, like her socks-knitting back in fourth-year. She had seen a lonely child who had lost his mother and had recently gone through a terrible experience that she had to do something for Scorpius despite the fact that he was Draco's son and she did not actually know him herself. As childish as Ron had been for sending the toy ferret, it had still been a big thing for him to do to send a present to the son of one of his least favourite persons in the world, even if it had been through Hermione's prompting, not to mention the silver lining that the toy ferret had given Ron and Draco a chance to have a real conversation.

Reading the Malfoy's family trip kind of made Harry longed to bring his family on a trip to somewhere exotic. Thanks to Bill and Charlie, the Potters had visited both France and Romania before and the majority of his extended family had visited Argentina together a couple of years ago for the 2014 Quidditch World Cup but he imagined it would be quite different from planning a family trip on his own. It might be the perfect thing his family needed at the moment for bonding, especially with Albus. In any case, there were few others who deserved the distractions and bonding moments as much as Scorpius that he felt glad for the Malfoys.

It was relieving to read Malfoy admitting that he had reservation himself about the appropriateness for him to suddenly write something so personal to him that at least he did not feel obliged to put too much thoughts into writing a lengthy reply. Harry could totally understand how important it was to have someone to talk to, no matter how heavy the subject was, as he recalled the times when Ginny had scolded him about keeping his worries about being possessed by Voldemort to himself and when Luna had comforted him after Sirius' death in his fifth year. Thinking about how much Draco had suffered on his own with a wall between his son and him made Harry felt sorry for him and started to feel pleased that Draco would be willing to open up about his deepest feelings, despite not being sure he had picked the most suitable person to write to. Unfortunately, he did not feel too happy about needing to reply to such a letter.

While Harry loved and cared about his friends and family deeply, articulating his feelings and offering condolences had always been extremely challenging to him, which was somewhat ironic considering how many times he had dealt with someone's death and the fact that he was the Master of Death. In certain ways, the endless hours he had spent after Voldemort's defeat speaking to the survivors and grieving families had been even more difficult than his hunt for Horcruxes. Draco's tone might have indicated that their pain had already subsided quite a bit, Harry believed that such a detailed account on their grieving process appeared to demand condolences no matter how long she had passed, that he was actually glad to work overtime this week to delay replying the letter. But of course work was simply an excuse for him to delay the inevitable as he had made used of his lunch break twice to write short letters to Albus over the course of five days. It made him happy that his son had replied within two days both times, despite writing just a little. Sadly, he had not answered his question about how he had been sleeping but he tried to remind himself to take baby steps every day and be patient with his son. He finally set to work on a Sunday afternoon because he just could not delay this any longer for Draco's sake.

" _Dear Draco,_

 _I am sorry for not replying your letter sooner. I had a really hectic week at work and the truth is, I have never been good at putting my thoughts into words that for the longest time, I did not even know how I should start this reply at all._

 _Your letter has left me speechless that I find myself still processing its content now, days after I have first read it. Your wife sounded like the most wonderful person that I wish I had had a chance to meet her. No word could adequately express how terrible it was that a mother's life was taken too soon but I am sure she would be very proud of the both of you. I am truly sorry for everything you and Scorpius had to cope with and I am really glad that things have improved so much between you two. It brought me great satisfaction to learn how happy Albus was able to make Scorpius feel on Christmas day as I do think that your son is a wonderful kid who has already experienced way too much sadness and deserves all the happiness in the world. I promise that for the boys' remaining years in Hogwarts, I will make sure that Albus will get to spend some time with Scorpius every Christmas as I believe that this is something needed by the both of them._

 _Given our history, it has been quite strange for me to read something so personal about your family and even though I am still not feeling sure what I feel about it in a way, thank you for putting so much trust in me. Honestly, having cruelly separated them from each other before, letting the boys spent time with each other on Christmas day was the least I could do to make up for them, so you do not owe me anything. However, I have recently realised that Albus has been having nightmares about Delphi, that I am feeling extra worried about him. Therefore, it would mean even more for me now if you will let me know when you ever find out something alarming about Albus from Scorpius, as we have agreed that day on the Malfoy Ground. Thank you again for agreeing to do this, I do think that the two of us as well as Ginny are in the same boat with our sons that both of them need and will continue to need any support and love they could get from the ones closest to them, so it makes a lot of sense for us to work and support with each other._

 _It is perfectly fine for me that you have told Scorpius about meeting Teddy, I am sure they will get along very well. Regarding your question, Teddy is a metamorphmagus like his mother, and "the Christmas Tree" is a signature look of his in which he turns his hair green with dozens of strands of colourful highlights. I'll be meeting Andromeda on her birthday next month, when I am planning to ask her about dinner in the Easter break. I will definitely keep you posted about any updates, feel free to write to me if you have any question or if you need to write to someone._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Harry Potter"_

Compared with the long and heartfelt letter by Draco, he thought there was definitely something lacking in his own reply but he sent it out anyway after rereading it twice as he believed that he had written all the important things that needed to be said, most importantly the promise to let the boys spend time with each other every Christmas day in their remaining few years in Hogwarts. He had phrased it this way as who would possibly know where life would take the boys after Hogwarts anyway. He had specifically written "to spend some time with Scorpius" instead of "to visit Scorpius at the Manor" because he had secretly been hoping that the Malfoys would be able to join the Weasley Christmas lunch by next year. If Molly's touched reaction to Scorpius' flowers had been any indication, it should not be too difficult to convince the Weasleys at all. Merlin, he would not even be surprised if Molly decided to knit a jumper for Scorpius or even Draco next year. If Molly agreed to anything, no one in the family would dare to object to her decision, despite the conflict he had gotten into with his father-in-law earlier. It might be harder to convince Draco to join them but with Ginny, Hermione and him there, he doubted any ginger there would try to give his new friend a hard time if he did agree to join their Christmas gathering. Surely he would be able to see how helpful it would be for Scorpius to spend the day in a crowd versus in relative silence inside the Manor, right?

Having finally gotten the reply over, he left for the sitting room where he joined Ginny to relax on the sofa for a couple of hours before cooking dinner. There was something very comfortable about an easy afternoon like this in which they just talked about anything they wanted while she leaned on his shoulder and held his hand. It was always the simplest moment in life which was the most precious for someone like Harry Potter. Thinking about Draco's letter and the Malfoys' loss, he could not have been more grateful that his own family had been alive and well, despite the demons Albus would have to overcome. Over the conversation, they decided on what to get for Andromeda's birthday and Harry found himself really looking forward to the long-overdue gathering with someone who had become one of his closest family friends over the years.

* * *

Harry received a much shorter letter from Draco the next day, in which he had earnestly thanked him for his promise regarding the following Christmases, expressed his sympathy for the nightmares that had been plaguing his son and reassured him that he would do his parts to support their boys. He thought to himself that Draco Malfoy was possibly the best person who could relate to his struggles with Albus aside from Ginny, that being friends with him, a single father of a still-grieving child, actually made him feel less alone and somewhat more optimistic about helping his traumatised boy.

* * *

A/N: Originally, I wasn't going to write Harry's reaction to Draco's letter at all but it feels like something's missing that I ended up writing a full chapter on that. I hope this chapter doesn't feel too much like filler :P

Thanks for all your support, it'll make me so happy if you can leave a review, even if it's very short =)


	29. Andromeda

Andromeda was a strong but sympathetic woman with dignity and integrity, despite having been disowned by her own family and having experienced her fair share of hardship. Harry could still remember the first time he had met with her after the Second Wizarding War. He had dreaded for days before, thinking about how Andromeda would surely get upset in front of him and thus he would undoubtedly need to comfort the grandmother of a newly-orphaned infant, not to mention he himself had not really gotten over the loss of Lupin and Tonks that he had no idea how he would be able to get through the meeting. However, after everything Lupin had done for him and as Teddy's godfather, offering condolences and any assistance he could possibly give to her had been a matter of duty that he could not possibly shy away from any longer.

Instead of arriving at the Floo, he had apparated to the front of her house and he had only been able to knock on her door after pacing around for five minutes hesitantly. Ginny had offered to join the visit for support but he had declined, as he had believed that he would not be able to open up about the Lupins' deaths in front of an almost stranger if Ginny had been there. He had planned to greet her formally as "Mrs Tonks" with a nod of his head the moment she had opened the door, but pathetically, he had frozen at the sight of her. He had to keep reminding himself that _Bellatrix is dead, Bellatrix is dead…_ under his breath while taking deep breaths. She had patiently waited for him to calm down, then she gave him a sad smile before wordlessly holding his hand, then she gently pulled him into a soothing hug and unexpectedly, he had gone right into it despite almost suffering from a panic attack mere seconds ago because of her resemblance to her sister and it had been very comforting.

Embarrassingly, when he had later tried to express how sorry he had been for the deaths of Lupin and Tonks, it had been he, instead of Andromeda, the widow who had lost her husband, daughter and son-in-law, had been tortured herself as well as being left with the tremendous responsibility to care for an infant on her own within the past year, who had ended up breaking down and sobbing like a child. Again she had embraced him firmly, this time holding him tight for what had felt like an hour while letting him cry his heart out for his losses. Although she had shed some tears herself, she had been able to maintain her composure remarkably well.

Harry had also met and held his godson for the very first time on that unforgettable night, which had understandably been upsetting at first as he could not shake off the thought that Teddy had become an orphan like himself looking at the innocent baby. However, something magical had happened after holding the lively infant, who thankfully had seemed clueless about his terrible situation, for ten minutes, the baby had been so happy and his laugh had been so infectious that looking at him, Harry could not help feeling a sense of hope that he laughed along with his godson. Almost immediately after being held by this sad looking young man, the metamorphmagus baby had changed his hair into a black and messy bush, which brought a gentle smile from Andromeda, who had been silently wiping her tears. About a minute later, he had changed his eyes into green as well, but it had been nothing compared with the shock of seeing a "scar" shaped in a lightning bolt appeared on his godson's forehead, even though it was on the wrong side. Sensing that his handler had not been happy with his change, the "scar" had disappeared mere seconds after appearing as the young godfather hugged the baby tight against his own chest and silently promised that he would be the godfather Sirius could not have been for himself due to his imprisonment, one who would be a constant presence all through Teddy's childhood. Since that night, Andromeda had become kind of a surrogate aunt to him, especially because of the frequent times they had met the first few years when he had babysat Teddy at least once a week, brought them food and run errands to provide her with some much deserved relief.

Harry had actually offered her the entity of his inheritance from Sirius' vault and had reasoned that she had been Sirius' favourite cousin and Teddy had been the son of one of Sirius' best friends that his own godfather would no doubt approve of his decision, not to mention he had inherited a substantial sum from his father in addition to the salary of a full time job he would no doubt be earning to provide for his own family in the future that he had no real need for the fortune. The Tonks, on the other hand, had not have much in saving so Andromeda would obviously need to both care for and provide for Teddy, that surely receiving the sum that would eliminate her financial needs would be the most practical thing to do in order to provide the infant with the best care possible. Unfortunately, the talk had been very frustrating as Andromeda, being a woman of principle, had insisted that she could not have taken any money from him. They had gone back and forth for two hours until he had finally left. He had tried it again many times afterwards but had never managed to change her mind.

Having lived in the cupboard under the staircase and worn nothing but hand-me-downs from Dudley in his early years, Harry would never want Teddy to feel that he was any less than the other wizarding children just because his family could not afford what others would easily take for granted. He felt strongly that after losing both of his parents, his godson had not deserved to feel deprived of anything else. Not to mention, he had fantasised receiving new and fitting clothes and all the delicious food he could have eaten as a child that it felt good to fulfill his own childhood fantasies while helping Teddy. Therefore, he had grabbed every opportunity he could to buy school supplies and presents for his godson, to the point that he had even started inventing special occasions, like the anniversary of the day he had persuaded Lupin to return to Tonks after learning of the pregnancy (it had been a good excuse to tell Teddy more about his parents but he could not actually remember the actual day this had happened). He had had some successes over the years but there had been quite a number of times when he had failed to stop Andromeda from paying him back.

* * *

Andromeda was easily the most important person in Teddy's life that his godson always worked hard to make each of her birthday special for her, which had been quite a challenge for him during his years in Hogwarts when he could not spend time with her on the day at all. For the past few years in which he had graduated, he would always take the day off to spend the afternoon with her as well as to organise a dinner in which those closest to her, namely the Potters and some of the Weasleys, were all invited to celebrate the occasion. Since she was a rather low-key woman, he always tried to keep it simple and cosy with less people in attendance. This year, Molly, Arthur, Bill, Fleur, Victoire, Harry and Ginny would all attend.

Immediately after Harry had arrived at the small house's Floo, Teddy rushed forward to give him an enthusiastic hug. He was sporting a "simpler look" tonight with uniform blonde hair that ended in turquoise blue. Even though Teddy's future parents-in-law liked him a lot and had basically considered him as another nephew for all his life, Harry knew that the elegant and fashionable quarter-Veela Fleur had never been a fan of Teddy's more outrageous looks that he tried to tone it down whenever she was present. After releasing his godson, Harry took a moment to take in the surroundings. Ginny had brought their present over before him that it had already become part of the pile on the table. His wife was catching up with her father with him holding her arms like they had just pulled away from a hug, while Vic was nowhere to be seen. He guessed she was in the kitchen as there was noise coming from there and she had always been known as the best cook out of all the Weasley grandchildren. Bill and Fleur were seated at a corner of the room discussing something with many pieces of papers and parchments lying all over the tea table between them. Andromeda, who had apparently been sitting with Molly, rose up to greet him.

Harry felt his heart warmed at the sight of her welcoming smile and open arms that he went straight into her embrace. Life might have tested her but it would never be able to harden her. Her hair, which had mostly turned grey by now, was neatly put into a bun, with a few strands of loose hair hanging around her heart-shaped face, which effectively brought out the softness of her look. She might be nearing seventy but the lines around her eyes and mouth could do nothing to diminish her elegance and grace or the life and kindness in her dark brown eyes. In Harry's opinions, Andromeda was the kind of aunt everyone would want in his life, even strangers would grow comfortable in her presence within minutes.

"Happy Birthday, Andromeda." He said as they pulled away from the hug.

"Thank you, Harry. I heard that you have been very busy the last few months, it's so nice of you to come." Coming from Andromeda, this kind of greetings would never felt superficial at all. She genuinely looked appreciative of him coming even though he was one of her closest friends and had celebrated her birthday with her almost every year for the last twenty years.

"Of course I have to come, it has been way too long since we last met. I should have come by earlier but I could barely afford taking the few days off during Christmas holiday for my family. I wish you would join us at the Burrow."

At this, she smiled a little and said, "As sweet as you all are, that kind of crowd is a bit too much for me." They chatted for a bit more before he turned to greet the others. She sat back down on the sofa to resume a conversation with Molly, whose hair had been greying for some years as well. These days, the picture of these two older ladies together was one of harmony. Harry could easily remember how jarring the sight had been to first see them sitting together years ago looking like Molly Weasley having a friendly conversation with Bellatrix while lovingly holding a baby.

At seventeen, Harry had absolutely no experience in taking care of babies that fittingly, Molly had been the one who had showed him the ropes to enable him to help babysit his godson. In addition, Molly had babysat for Andromeda a lot herself since at the time, all of her sons had already been working adults living elsewhere while Ginny had been finishing Hogwarts. The mother of seven had a lot of spare time in her hands so naturally, she tried to help out Andromeda as much as she could, which proved helpful for Molly to cope with her own loss. Percy, George and Ron had all taken turns to live one to two weeks every two to three months at the Burrow to keep an eye on Molly, who had had quite a number of bad days in those first two years, from not bothering to cook breakfast, cooking a full meal and having nine places set up at the table when there had only been three people at home at the time, to not talking at all for a whole day sometimes. It had been terrible to see the loving but usually tough Weasley matriarch so affected but mothering the orphan baby had proved to be a great antidote to the grief of losing one of her own children.

Harry was sitting comfortably with Ginny looping an arm around his while his father-in-law was excitedly asking him questions about the Muggle smartphone when his eldest niece came out of the kitchen and made a beeline for Andromeda with her most gorgeous smile. Victoire might only be an eighth-Veela but she was every bit as charming as her mother had been at her age. She gently held her future grandmother-in-law's hand then planted a kiss on her cheek, before saying, "Your birthday dinner is ready, gran." With that, Vic helped her up then accompanied her to the kitchen, where the dining table was, even though Andromeda was still very healthy that she could get around everywhere without help. But judging by her affectionate smile, the birthday girl did not mind the attention at all. Teddy then helped Molly up and now everyone was making way into the kitchen. Seeing them together, Harry struggled to remember when Vic had started calling Andromeda "gran" like Teddy did, it rolled off her tongue so naturally that she could not have started after the engagement. For what was worth, Vic might as well be Andromeda's granddaughter already.

Before the full course meal had even come into Harry's view, he could hear Andromeda admired, "Oh Vic, this is amazing! Thank you so much!" Indeed, if this was all about the appearance, Vic's feast was so beautiful that not only was it better looking than Harry's Christmas Eve dinner and the Malfoy's Christmas breakfast, it also looked more impressive-looking than Molly's Christmas lunch, which was no small feat at all. But then of course all the aforementioned meals had been prepared by someone who had only wanted his or her family to have a good time sharing a tasty meal, while Vic was a half-French perfectionist working her hardest to try to impress her future family and to show off her culinary and artistic talents. There was a whole roast chicken decorated with chili flower garnish, a dish of fishes with creamy sauce decorated with tomato roses and cucumber roses, a pie with its crust arranged in impossible braids and leaves design, a "peacock" which was actually a veggie salad with some cold cuts, a fruit salad arranged as a colourful heart-shaped flower wreath, a dish of potatoes in which golden brown and lighter-coloured potatoes were arranged into cute looking mushrooms decorated with red onion lotus-flower garnish. Granted, the feast might not be that time-consuming with the suitable cooking spells, it was still a lot for a twenty-year-old girl to pull off alone.

"It is your birthday, gran. Of course everything has to be perfect! I have baked your cake as well and I am sure you will love it!" If Vic had been her mother, this might come off as kind of smug or arrogant, but not only was the blonde girl stunning enough to pass as a half-Veela instead of an eighth-Veela, she also processed a natural sweetness which made it impossible for anyone to dislike her and to doubt her sincerity. But then as a Wesley, she could also be quite sassy at times, especially when dealing with her male cousins and uncles, sometimes even her own father.

"Hey Vic, why was my birthday dinner not half as good as this? Isn't it a bit unfair that you are already treating Andromeda so much better than your own dad?" Bill feigned jealousy to tease his daughter even though Harry could tell he was partially serious.

She turned towards her father looking a bit impatient, "Dad, do I honestly need to remind you of the time you happily popping one of my first tomato flowers into your mouth before proclaiming it was okay but then you immediately wondered aloud why I had to spend so much time on these only to have my hard work eaten within seconds? Also, this is my first time cooking a full meal for gran, of course it has to be special."

"I was hungry at the time, Vic." Bill answered defensively with his face looking quite red but at least he knew enough to shut up. Fleur gave him a look as if to say _serve you right_.

* * *

A/N: This was one of those times when I felt like I was writing a part that could easily be a separate one-shot instead of yet more background story of this already very long story. I find setup hard as understandably, most of the readers following would be reading for the main characters, that it's challenging to make sure that these parts are engaging. Sometimes I worry that you are all just dying for me to go back to the boys. It would be helpful to get more feedback on the secondary characters.

Thanks for all your encouragements. A shout out to Ronnie Jane, guest reviews are as important to me as signed reviews but it's extra special that I got to know who you are. I would love to chat with more of you, please comment!


	30. The Blacks' Reconnection

Andromeda sat at one end of the table, with Teddy and Harry sitting at her two sides. Ginny sat between Harry and Molly while Victoire sat between Teddy and Bill. All dishes tasted every bit as delicious as they were beautiful that even Molly, the best cook they had ever known, was extremely impressed by how good Vic's cooking was. While the girl had always been good, it was obvious that she had make some great progress over the last year, no doubt in preparation to become the best wife she could be. Everyone was having a good time eating while chatting with each other. Having a smaller group of people meant they could easily chat with anyone on the table pretty well but they did enjoy having some more private conversations with the ones sitting closer to themselves as well. At one point, Andromeda leaned a little towards Harry.

"By the way, Harry, I have meant to thank you since last week." She spoke with her most sincere smile that he almost felt bad about needing to ask the question.

"Hmm… that's nice of you, Andromeda, but I'm sorry I have absolutely no idea what you meant to thank me for." Harry tried to look as unembarrassed as he could.

His confused reaction did not deter her smile at all, instead, she even placed a hand on his and continued. "I want to thank you, Harry, for talking to my nephew. He has sent me a letter last week and being able to reconnect with one of my last living relatives is perhaps one of the best birthday presents I could possibly receive."

This was news to Harry even though he had indeed encouraged Draco to reach out to Andromeda during breakfast on Christmas morning. Given Malfoy's characters, he had imagined that it would take him a long time and more urging to actually give this a try that he was pleasantly surprised by how fast he had taken heed of his advice. From writing that long letter, making use of an opportunity to apologise to Ron, to trying to reconnect with Andromeda so soon, lately he had been constantly surprised by him in a good way. "You're welcome. I haven't done much except assuring him that you would not take his previous silence personally and would appreciate any late contact all the same."

Here, she gave him a sad smile before saying, "You know me well, Harry. I have had a good life so far… but I would be lying if I say being estranged from my own family had not brought me some sadness all these years. Back when he had written to me two years ago to invite me to Cissy's funeral, it had make me quite sad that I had never gotten a chance to see her again after my marriage but Draco's belief that she would want me to be there brought me some comfort. Bella had never liked me too much but Cissy and I… we had been quite close as children so it had been hard for me… As sad as the circumstances had been, I was very glad that he would invite me at all, that at least I had a chance to say goodbye formally."

She was now looking down and was absent-mindedly twisting her wedding ring, Teddy gave her a concerned look but he seemed to understand that the conversation was meant for Harry and perhaps Ginny to hear that he turned to chat "casually" with his fiancée.

"The funeral was close to what I would have imagined except for one notable difference: there were only ten people in attendance. I had known that the Malfoy's reputation among the purebloods might have changed after the War but Cissy had used to be so popular with so many friends that you would have thought there would be hundreds of people attending her funeral. And… even though I had never met him before then, I felt so bad for my nephew because he looked emotionally numbed even though he had greeted me very politely and seemed genuinely appreciative of my presence. It appeared to me then that he must had a fairly complicated relationship with Cissy. His wife greeted me with a warm smile even though she was all pale and quite fragile by then and was seated in a wheelchair while that sweet little boy looked so small holding his mother's hand the whole time." The picture of young Scorpius staying by Astoria's side, supporting her through her illness even during his grandmother's funeral was almost enough to break Harry's heart after learning so much about the family's relationship. He could tell from Andromeda's melancholic look and the way that Ginny had looked away blinking her eyes that they were feeling the same.

"I got a chance to talk with the two of them for a while and they obviously shared such a close bond and loved each other so much that it made me quite sad to learn later of her passing. After the ceremony, I stayed for a bit at the Manor where I helped to sort out some of Cissy's old stuff. Seeing all those old stuff again brought me so much nostalgia and sadness. It was such a strange day to see Cissy lying there looking so different from when I had last seen her and to remember all those memories from another life seeing my mother's jewelries, hair brush and so on... Despite all the strangeness and sadness, I had hoped that something good would come out of it at the time, that I would get to build a relationship with my sister's family so I had been quite disappointed to receive the reply to my thank you note to my nephew. I did not write much because he had appeared so reserved but I did try to convey to him how important it had been for me to get to see Cissy one last time. His reply was very formal and polite but it was basically just a 'you're welcome' with two lines in total. Knowing all those things that were going on in his life, Cissy's death, his wife's sickness and that _ridiculous_ rumour about his gentle boy, I respected that his life likely had no space for some 'blood traitor' aunt he had learned to distance himself from his entire life so I stopped contacting him afterwards." It was quite curious how she seemed almost accepting about being known as a _blood traitor_ in her own family that not only was there no bitterness in her voice, she also pronounced the words matter-of-factly.

"It had been more than two years that I have completely given up on reconnecting with him… so it was such a pleasant surprise to receive his letter out of the blue. And it wasn't just receiving the letter in itself… he had written so sincerely and honestly about how scared and reluctant his family had been in the later part of the war, how Cissy's later years had been, how she would have tried to reconnect with me if it had not been her unwillingness to displease Lucius that he felt sorry that she had not been brave enough to do so. He also expressed sympathy for the unfair contempt I had received from the Blacks and his family in the past and for the situation the war had left me in. He explained to me why he had not been in touch and expressed a wish to remain in contact which pleased me very much. Of course he did tell me a bit about the memorable Christmas he had and the part you had played in making the day special and encouraging him to write at the first place, so it was all thanks to you." Her happiness was subtle but seemed to glow from deep within, she looked Harry in the eye with such gratefulness as if he had done so much more than giving Malfoy a passing encouragement to contact her which prompted his face to feel slightly hot.

"Hmm… I didn't do much at all, Andromeda. But I can attest that he is a very different person from the typical pureblood elitist he used to be in Hogwarts. He's the one who has taken the first step to write, and he chose himself to write in this honest manner that I… can't take any credit at all." _Pureblood elitist_ was definitely an understatement but she did not need to know that he had been a bully and a spoiled git in the past, he wanted her to like Draco and for the two families to establish a permanent relationship more than anyone else.

She nodded her head thoughtfully. "I must say, I didn't think ill of him previously even though I had heard that he had not been too nice in his youth but he seemed to have transformed into a completely different person based on the way he had written. I feel quite glad as it looks like he has grown out of Lucius' influence to become an amazing man and a loving father. He did not write too much about his boy but his love was so evident in the little bit there was." Harry was immediately reminded of the heartfelt tone Draco had used writing the long letter that he was willing to bet that he had written this letter in the same tone.

Here she looked jarringly mischievous for an almost seventy-year-old with a sparkle in her eyes, "You know, Harry, I was actually very tempted to invite him to tonight's dinner but of course I would not want to risk scaring him away. I did not want to pressure him into attending and force him into making awkward small talks with me too soon but I do want to know him and my grandnephew better, to meet them in person again later in addition to keeping in touch by letters." Knowing that Draco had agreed to attend a dinner with both Andromeda and Teddy, having read his letter to him and now having heard of the content of his letter to her, Harry actually felt very sure that Malfoy would want to leave a good impression that not only would he agree to attend the birthday dinner if he had been invited, he would also have dressed all properly and bring the most extravagant present. He would not have been able to stifle a giggle imagining Malfoy cramming in this small kitchen wearing his best dress suit if it had not been Ginny's warning look.

Andromeda seemed to look a little taken aback by his amused expression, he averted his eyes then gave a cough before turning back to her. "I am sorry, Andromeda, that's pretty rude of me. I was just reminded of something funny… sorry."

"That's alright, Harry. These things happen to the best of us." She gave him an understanding look. Harry looked at her intently, she appeared much more talkative and happier than she had ever been while talking about the Malfoys. He could tell that even if her values and beliefs had been at odds with her family's and they might not have been great people, she must have yearned for more familial contacts anyway that amazingly, this new chance to get to know the Malfoys seemed to have rejuvenated her. He thought, perhaps there had always been something there that was more than blood to connect the Malfoys with Andromeda and Teddy, even if they had been strangers. What did it mean to be family? Aunt Petunia had been connected to him no matter how much she had loathed him, as proved by her being the means of keeping his mother's protection alive, while the Weasleys had been more his family than the Dursleys had ever been even before he had officially become one of them. It had not mattered that Andromeda had been disowned, deep down she would always be a Black in some way. In any case, she might as well have already answered him that she would love to meet with the Malfoys in Easter, which made his job so much easier.

"Hmm… It's actually quite curious that you would bring up Draco, Andromeda, because I have been meaning to ask you tonight if you would like to meet with the Malfoys in the Easter break at my home. Scorpius has been a very lonely child that I thought it would be beneficial for both Teddy and him to get to know each other. Since I'm now friends with Draco and Albus is Scorpius' best friend, I think it would make them feel less awkward if we all have dinner together at my place."

"Aww… that's so considerate of you to have thought about that for the both of them, Harry dear. Of course I will join, I can't wait to meet with Draco and his sweet little boy again."

There was absolutely no question that she was indeed happy to hear about the dinner, but she seemed surprisingly calm about it that he could not help from feeling underwhelmed by her reaction. Apparently, his disappointment must have shown as she smiled and took his hand. "Don't get me wrong, Harry. This is an absolutely wonderful thing you are doing and I am beyond excited to hear your invitation but surely you could not expect Teddy to keep quiet about your plan, right?"

"Oh… right." Now he sort of felt like an idiot for not thinking about it beforehand, Teddy kept almost no secret from his grandmother and he had appeared so excited to get to meet Scorpius when he had asked him at the Christmas party that of course he would have told her. At the time, he might only have asked his godson about meeting the Malfoys without mentioning her, but Andromeda and Teddy had been family to him that of course they would instinctively know that he would do the proper thing to ask her as well.

"That's Harry for you, Andromeda. Of course he is always obsessed about doing the right and proper thing. He has become so invested in helping the Malfoys these days that even though I absolutely adore Scorpius and it's nice to have a husband who cares so much, it gets a bit irritating sometimes, but you know his heart is always in the right place." Ginny gave him a teasing look while laughing happily, she was obviously joking but he knew from the heat that his face had turned bright red.

To his horror, Andromeda laughed along at his expense. "You are quite right, dear, but I am certainly not complaining that Teddy got to have the perfect role model as his godfather. I am sorry, Harry, but to tell you the truth, I had been a little skeptical at first to hear that Remus and Dora had named a seventeen-year-old as Teddy's godfather even though I had heard that you had been working to bring down You-know-who at the time but you have proven me so wrong." He certainly could not fault her for that as he had hardly believed himself worthy and mature enough to be a godfather when he had first been told and at the beginning, he really had very little idea what he had been doing.

"I was just thinking about how coincidental it was that you would be thanking me about Draco and telling me how much you would want to know them better when I was meaning to invite you to meet them. I had wanted this to be a surprise for you." He tried to not sound as bummed as he felt.

"Oh Harry, your encouragement to Draco has meant so much to me that I had to make sure to thank you first before you mentioning them because I didn't want it to sound like a by-the-way. It might not be that surprising but the news, along with Draco's letter, is certainly the best present I have received in many years. Teddy and I have been extremely lucky to have you in our lives." They might have teased him but she looked so earnest that he could not stay annoyed at all. Not to mention, he could not help from feeling very proud for being responsible of making the usually serious-looking Andromeda so happy on her birthday that he automatically moved to give her a hug, which she returned with equal warmth.

* * *

A/N: Some of you may recall me taking an exam in July, I failed the exam and will retake it in December and there's another exam I should prepare for that I'm already feeling the pressure. I'm feeling overwhelmed and frustrated that I need to take a break to focus on my exams. I highly doubt I'd be able to completely stay away until the exams but it's safe to say that I won't be able to update as often in the next two months, any word of encouragement or any thought about the story would be deeply appreciated.

As always, thank you so much for all the support and especially to all the lovely repeated reviewers, I'd totally have given up by now without all of you.


	31. The Announcement

Andromeda's look suddenly turned solemn after they had pulled away from each other, "I hope you don't mind me saying, Harry. It might have been easier to only talk about happier things today but I am really sorry about everything that has happened with Bella's daughter. I am still in shock thinking about Bella having a child with You-know-who. I know she did some terrible things to Albus as well as to my grandnephew, but I can't help wondering what she must have been through, to live with the kind of caretakers she had. Of course her upbringings could never excuse her actions, especially to those two sweet boys and that innocent boy she killed… but I-I have been feeling sorry for her as she's my niece after all."

At her words, he could not help remembering how pitiful and pathetic Delphi had looked begging to meet her _father_. There was a tiny part of him that knew that she had had it rough and that Andromeda had meant well but he was not ready to feel sorry for her, who had manipulated his son, who was more important to him than his own life, had tortured the sweet and precious Scorpius, and had killed the innocent Craig, which condemned those boys into the same guilt which had plagued him ever since the night of the Third Task, that he numbly nodded. "I understand, Andromeda, but I really prefer not to talk about it." Her mouth parted but then closed again after a few seconds without saying anything.

After a minute or so of awkward eating, he decided to turn to a conversation topic that Andromeda, actually more like everyone present, would feel very happy and proud to discuss, Teddy's job, because he did not want her to feel bad for bringing up the taboo subject. "Hmm… Teddy, how is work going? I feel like I haven't really talked to you much about your job since your promotion." He asked a bit too loudly across the table.

At his question, his godson's face lit up, he had not been following his gran's interaction with Harry too closely that it appeared to him that he had no idea he was being used as a distraction. "Oh, it's been great, Harry. Well, except for the whole hair code nonsense. We have finalised two job matches just this week, you have no idea how satisfying it's to see the hope in those poor people's eyes when they realise they have a shot of living a relatively normal life. And they really are genuinely nice people who deserve to have a life instead of a bare existence."

Harry's heart warmed affectionately looking at the fervent way his godson described his job. Teddy worked at a rather obscure office at the Ministry called the _Werewolf Support Services_. An older office had been around for quite a while but had never managed to help anyone at the time before its closing because no werewolf had ever come forward requesting any support at the time, just like how no werewolf would voluntarily be registered due to the stigma surrounding werewolves. Thanks to Kingsley, who had respected Lupin, his late comrade at the Order, a great deal, the office had been reopened and Kingsley himself had worked hard to fight for less prejudicial treatments towards the werewolves in the Wizarding community. As a muggle-born who had to defy others' prejudices a lot herself in order to reach her current position, Hermione had remained very supportive of this reopened office and these underprivileged population that she had make sure to provide as much assistance and resources as she could. While there were still a lot of werewolves, most of those had been infected during the war, who preferred not to be identified and would live the kind of nomadic life Lupin had lived in the past, the offices had helped more than a hundred of werewolves by now, by matching them with jobs which matched their skill sets but would allow for a more flexible working schedules, providing them with safe houses, which had mostly been abandoned, in the countryside where they could transform without affecting others, researching on the wolfsbane potion to make it more readily-accessible, and the possibility of using another potion to relieve the werewolves' symptoms and sufferings and so on.

There are some people who had been very disappointed by Teddy's decision to join this office as the boy had been Head Boy and he was talented in so many areas that most people had believed that he could have gotten almost any job that it had been such a waste for him to work at some C-list office at the Ministry. But knowing how Lupin had managed to become a prefect at school and Harry's favourite professor in Hogwarts despite his "disadvantages", Teddy had become so inspired to work for these unfortunate people who shared a similar fate as his father had since learning about the office's existence. With Hermione's help, he, along with his coworkers, had managed to prove that a lot of werewolves were capable of contributing their skills, intellects and talents to the workforce despite some inconveniences that it was safe to say that the world had become more tolerant and accepting towards the werewolves. The office had steadily become more reputable that it had even gotten an expansion recently. Needless to say, Harry was very proud of his godson for the passions he had in his job and being able to make so much difference in the lives of so many. As expected, Andromeda, Vic, Ginny as well as Bill, who felt strongly about the werewolves even though he was not truly one himself, all looked at Teddy with such pride and fondness that the previous awkwardness had been easily forgotten.

"Recently, we have been looking into the possibilities to make education accessible to all school-aged werewolves. Seriously, if my dad could do this fifty years ago, I don't see why the others can't do it fifty years later with all the revolutionary advancements we have make over the past twenty years. Both Hermione and Professor McGonagall are very supportive of the idea but it's the school board which is the biggest problem. I have met with them myself and they're absolutely unbeli-" Harry knew that his godson had perhaps wanted a passionate speech from him agreeing with everything he said or some practical suggestions about how he should persuade those bull-headed governors. Instead, he looked at him with a gentle smile and could not help from saying out loud, "Remus would definitely be so proud of you."

His godson stopped abruptly, he looked slightly down while his ears were turning red. Unlike Albus, who did not take compliments well at all, Teddy did like praises but he just happened to be way too modest for his own good. The boy was absolutely brilliant without realising just how good he was. "Thanks, Harry… I-I really hope so. We feel like there are still so much there for us to do…" Vic playfully kissed him on his cheek at this moment, which made him stuttered even more. "Hmm… t-thanks, Vic. That's a nice surpr… I mean, it's lovely, b-but what was that for?"

She made a face, "Why should there always be a reason for me to kiss you? Perhaps I just find it cute how you would feel all embarrassed when being complimented." Most people present were fine with her rather public kiss, except for Bill, who rolled his eyes. Teddy did not miss it, he stole a glance at his future father-in-law before looking back down and quietly said, "Vic, everyone's looking." It was clear to everyone that by _everyone_ , he had meant Bill alone. At least Ron, George or Fred was not present, they would have mocked the couple so bad, most likely by whistling.

Vic, on the other hand, did not see a problem at all, "Let them look, we are getting married in s…" Suddenly, the young lady urgently patted her fiance's arm a few times before leaning in for a whispered conversation. They went back and forth for a minute before he gave her a nod, he then turned towards his grandmother and gave her a meaningful look, she responded with an encouraging smile and nod.

Teddy coughed once before taking his time to look around the table, looking at everyone of them who had practically been his family all his life, then he finally said, "Harry and Ginny, Aunt Molly and Arthur," for some unknown reason, Molly had always been "Aunt Molly" to Teddy but Arthur had never been "Uncle Arthur", "Vic and I are getting married on the first Sunday of August at the Shell Cottage." Hearing that their eldest granddaughter was getting married so soon, Arthur let out a delighted cheer while Molly burst into tears. Harry felt his own tears threatening to fall even though he had known about the engagement for well over a year, perhaps having a tangible date made the marriage that much closer to being a reality. Teddy might not have been his own but he had literally seen him grown up before his eyes from an infant into such a lovely young man that the sentiments he was feeling would not be much different from how the father of a groom would be feeling. The marriage was extra special for Harry as Teddy had lost his parents in a war like him and just like himself, his godson was going to officially become part of this extended family which he had always been a part of. For all the similarities there were between Teddy's life and his, he wished that his godson would never have to experience anything remotely as terrifying as he had.

Bill left the table only to return a moment later with a large bottle of champagne, the father of the bride had obviously come prepared for this specific moment, which they later found out had originally meant to be at the very end of the evening after eating the birthday cake. They had already been having a great time that Harry had a stronger-than-usual drink before this. Everyone took turns to congratulate the couple with a hug while Andromeda looked on with her most motherly smile, appearing not the least bothered for being upstaged so early on her own birthday. Harry was full on crying when he hugged his godson for more than a whole minute and would not have been able to let go if Ginny had not make her impatience known by tapping her foot and coughing a few times. After warmly hugging Teddy, then her niece, who she had always liked much better than the girl's quarter-Veela mother, Ginny returned to his side while he was still shamelessly wiping his tears and blowing his nose.

"Get a grip, Harry…" He turned towards her and was immediately and forcefully reminded of the night they had gotten engaged, to remember how unbelievable it had felt that even Harry Potter, for whom a bunch of people who had been closest to him had died, could have a family of his own. The Time Turner incidents and the emotional journey he had been through the past few months had reminded him never to take any of his happiness for granted. He had a wonderful family himself and now his _baby_ godson was going to form his own family as well, Teddy deserved his happiness just as much as he had… "I can't bloody believe it, this is so embarrassing!" He had now held her tight in an embrace and was tearfully saying "I love you" over and over again, seemingly blind to all his family present.

* * *

After being forcefully released by his wife and having finally calmed down after the announcement, Harry sheepishly sat while stealing glances at his slightly annoyed wife. Everyone had happily resumed their eating while chatting about the wedding, more accurately, everyone except Molly, who had been trying to reason with Bill that the wedding should be held at the Burrow instead of the Shell Cottage. Unfortunately, it had seemed like a lost cause as Bill had patiently explained that they had decided on the Shell Cottage not merely because it had been Vic's family home, but also because Vic had always dreamed of having her wedding by the sea. For the first few years since the first time Harry had "visited" the Shell Cottage, he had always been painfully reminded of Dobby's death whenever he had come close to the place again. It had gradually become easier over the years as Bill and Fleur had expended it twice and had really make it their own after their children's births. Funny enough, Dobby's grave had become some sort of local attraction since he had make sure that the world would know how this tiny house-elf had sacrificed his own life to save so many people that visitors would come almost every day to pay their respect and leave a sock or two for the freed house-elf.

Ginny now whispered to his ear, "And to think this was only for Teddy, I'm starting to dread the day when James is going to make a similar announcement of his own, don't you dare embarrassing him in front of the whole extended family like that. You know what, I don't believe you should have anything stronger than a beer in any future family gathering…"

He knew he had overreacted and had gotten way too emotional for his own good but he was not feeling sorry at all. However, unlike some other men (like the majority of his brothers-in-law) who would have found Ginny too controlling, he was just extremely grateful to have her that he had rarely ever been able to object to any of her demands, which had mostly been right and reasonable anyway, so he whispered back to her, "Anything for you, love," before planting a kiss on her cheek. Besides, if it was his son's turn, he was pretty sure he would not be able to hold back his tears with or without alcohol.

Everyone had returned their attentions elsewhere in time, Andromeda was obviously feeling very moved about her grandson's upcoming marriage. At one point, she turned towards Harry again and said, "You know, I could still remember Nymphadora's wedding like it was yesterday…" She looked like she really had been transported back in time, Harry smiled as he recalled how much Tonks had detested her real first name. He had imagined that Andromeda would have learned never to use that full name but it still came up surprisingly often considering Tonks had died more than twenty years ago, a part of him could not help suspecting if this dignified lady had actually been doing it intentionally to annoy her daughter. "It was very small with very few people present but she didn't mind it at all as it had only mattered to her that he would go through with it. It was not like she had ever doubted his love but you should know better than anyone how Remus would always think himself not deserving of happiness… it was all very sad but both of them, as well as Ted, would surely be so happy to see Teddy happy…" Andromeda did not look upset, but the happiness she was feeling was a solemn one that the typical words of congratulations did not seem to apply well at the moment that he opted to place his hand on hers and gave her a sympathetic look, to show that he understood her feelings all too well.

* * *

Later in the evening, when they had all finished the main dishes, Teddy quickly cleared the table before Vic carefully levitated a marble vase of beautiful roses to the table, which turned out to be the cake and looked completely lifelike and identical to the real things. It was a chocolate and rose strawberry-flavored cake that blown everyone away. While Vic was doing very well for herself in her own job, Harry thought his niece could easily turn cooking and baking into a career. Teddy and Vic were so perfect for each other that he could not wait to officially welcome his godson into the family, and judging by how things had been going lately, he really would not be surprised if two of Teddy's blonde-haired relatives would attend the celebration with all of them. They took their time to finish the last of the champagne before taking leave. Again Harry hugged his godson, who had turned his hair into dark navy blue ending in dark purple with countless starlike sparkles which essentially turned his hair into a starry night, before hugging Andromeda and congratulating her one last time.

* * *

A/N: Werewolf Support Services is canon from "Fantastic Beast" and pottermore and it's also canon that it had failed to help anyone because of the stigma. I really like the idea that Teddy would idolise the father he has never known and would pick a career which would be able to help Lupin in an alternate world. (This bit of information has been in my head for so long waiting for the right moment to be mentioned.) Also, with Hermione the house-elf activist as the Minister, I like to think that she would care especially for the prejudices in the wizarding world and would actively support departments that are trying to make some differences in such areas.


	32. Parental Advice

Ever since that first letter, Harry had maintained a relatively casual correspondence with Draco by owl post. He had written to Malfoy after Andromeda's birthday to tell him that she had been made very happy because of his letter and the prospect of meeting them later. He decided to test him a bit by mentioning passingly that Teddy had finally decided on the wedding date and venue after the year-long engagement. It was hard to tell with written words but Harry thought his new friend seemed a bit shy when he wrote about Andromeda. He had explained in his reply that the success of his long letter had encouraged him to write to Andromeda because he would like to make things right with her before meeting her again in person in Easter. Draco also congratulated him _very formally_ about the wedding, which he found a bit disappointing but he reminded himself that Malfoy knew nothing about Teddy's desire to invite them to his wedding that he remained cautiously optimistic that the Malfoys could get close to Teddy once they had all met in person.

* * *

Later in the month, Harry received a surprisingly honest reply to his regular letter to Albus about how he had been doing. Before then, Al had always avoided his question about his nightmares and had instead focused on the more positive things in Hogwarts, which had mostly been about Scorpius and about his own improving academic performances. After a few weeks, it had all become a routine to Harry that he would always ask about how his son had been sleeping, if he had any nightmare while Albus would always not answer and would simply write about something else, that he himself had stopped expecting an answer to his questions despite still asking every time. So it had come as quite a shock when he read the following words and realised that his son had decided to change tactics to close the subject once and for all.

" _If you really have to know, dad, I have indeed been having nightmares regularly, sometimes even once a week. Of course they were about the incidents but I am still not ready to talk about it yet. I did mean what I said on New Year's Eve that I want to be able to tell you someday and I understand that you are trying to help, dad, but as refreshing as it has been to be able to write to you about stuff, I hope you can just stop asking about the nightmares. I have talked to Madam Pomfrey and she has agreed to give me some sleeping draught, as long as I only take a quarter to half a dose every time, as she knew that I had witnessed the murder. I have been taking that occasionally as well as more chocolate, that it really has not been too bad lately. I have talked with Scorpius a bit about them too so it's not like I'm keeping everything to myself. I'm telling you this because I don't want you to worry too much but please don't ask about it again in every letter."_

Remembering how annoyed he would get when his friends bombarded him about his nightmares and connection with Voldemort in his fifth year, Harry knew that his son's annoyance was entirely reasonable, not to mention Albus had been unusually mature about it by giving him an honest answer (even though it could have only been the partial truth), and assuring him that he had been actively trying to deal with it. However, as a worrying father, it had become really difficult for him to reply to the letter without addressing the elephant in the room at all. Unfortunately, Al had also given him an even bigger problem in the letter when he "casually" asked the following questions.

" _If you really want to help, dad, would you mind telling me something? Did you think about Cedric Diggory a lot in your fifth year? If yes, what did you do about it?"_

To Harry, there really was only one implication to these questions, which was his son had been thinking about Craig a lot and was having troubles coping with the guilt. In theory, he knew that he should be the perfect person to answer these questions but unfortunately, feeling guilty about more and more people's suffering and deaths had never helped him to get used to it and be able to cope better in a similar situation that the truth was, he was as crappy as he had always been when it came to dealing with his guilts. Also, there was no way he could be completely open to his son about these questions because of his _unique_ and complicated circumstances of dating the ex-girlfriend of Cedric mere months after the boy's death and how Snape had been repeatedly messing with his mind during occlumency lessons by bringing up his memories of Cedric's death that year. Of course, he had felt terribly shaken and guilty during the summer and at the beginning of his fifth year, but by the later part of the year he had come to feel annoyed whenever he had been reminded of Cedric's death. He knew that he would not be able to give a satisfying answer to his son that he turned to the best person who should be able to help him, his wife.

* * *

After calmly and silently reading through the whole letter, she looked at him and asked, "Well, how do you plan to answer his questions?"

"I don't know, Gin. That's why I'm asking you, you know better than anyone how unsuitable I am to be answering questions and giving advice about guilt." He tried very hard to hide his frustration from his tone.

She shrugged and said, "I think you should just answer as truthfully as possible."

"To tell him that the guilt still eats at me till this day at the most unexpected times and I basically didn't do anything at the time to deal with it, except if you count me seeking comfort from Cedric's girlfriend." This definitely put him in the most unflattering light possible when all he wanted was to be able to help his son and to earn his respect. Ginny grimaced at his mention of Cho that he immediately regretted his choice of expression, but she was able to return to a more neutral demeanour in no time.

"On second thought, you should totally leave _that part_ out. What I meant was that, there was no point for you to sugarcoat this because false reassurance would do nothing to help him. He asked you precisely because he knew you had experienced it, that you had been in the exact situation as he's. The truth may be difficult to accept but the sooner he can accept the inevitability of guilt, the sooner he would be able to actively learn how to deal with it instead of running away from it or pretending it's not hurting him and letting it do the worst damages." Her tone was a little harsh to begin with but it had substantially softened by now, when she paused and pressed her hand on his.

"I believe our son just want to hear it from you that everything _will be_ fine someday." Looking at his wife's sincere expression, he asked himself, was everything truly fine for him? Just the fact that he had said the unforgivable to Albus about six months ago and had let the Time Turner incidents happen should be proof enough that everything had not been fine. What was worse now was that as consequences of his own failures, it had become his son's turn to suffer that deep down, this could never be fine at all. But he could see the truth in her eyes that Al just needed the reassurances that things could get better.

He nodded and said, "Why don't you reply him, you are way better than me in giving advice and surely you would be able to put things into words way better than me."

At this, she playfully lifted up the letter again and read aloud, " _Dad, I'm doing not bad..._ " now she even turned the letter around and pretended to search for something, "hmm… why should I be replying a letter that was not addressed to me?"

Not willing to give up, he countered, "He was replying to a letter from me so it makes sense that he would address to me alone, but surely he could understand it better if you…"

She interrupted him decidedly, "Have you forgotten what I said back then, Harry? He needs to feel specific love from you and this is your chance. He needs to hear it from _you_ because you were the one who had witnessed Cedric's death and had experienced the guilt yourself, not me. My job here is to help you organise your thoughts and words, but trust me when I say a reply from me would give him much less impact than one from you. How about this? The senior Quidditch correspondence at the _Daily Prophet_ will personally proofread and edit the letter for you afterwards." She even mischievously gave him a wink at the end, why did Ginny have to be right all the times?

* * *

A/N: I'm back! I'm pretty sure I've just taken my longest break from the fic yet. I had first expected to keep writing at a much slower pace for the last 6 weeks but ended up stopping completely. It had been an exhausting couple of weeks but it's relieving to get my exams over with. Also, I have passed the exam I failed earlier! I'm excited to get back to my writing but this feels so much harder after the hiatus, hence this shortest chapter yet (and probably a not-as-well-written one). My next few updates will probably continue to take longer than usual or be much shorter but I hope to return to my regular schedule/(and) length soon.

Thank you so much for your support, please comment =)

PS: I changed the fic's profile picture to Samuel Blenkin's Scorpius just because I finished the drawing a while ago :P


	33. The Malfoys' Letter

Harry had only just finished with his difficult task of replying Albus' letter (which he had sent out with a large box of Albus' favourite chocolates) when he received another alarming letter, this time from Draco, one late February evening.

While not as thick as the first letter, Harry could immediately tell that this letter, which had been sealed with the same luxurious wax as the previous letters he had received from Malfoy, was thicker than the usual one page he had been receiving these days the moment he held it in his hand. He could instinctively tell there was something wrong the moment he unfolded the pieces of paper.

"Dear Harry,

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, especially to another father of a troubled son, but since I have given you a promise, I really have no choice in this matter. The gist of what I need to communicate to you is that Albus' nightmares seem to be worse than you have imagined. I really struggled to write you the information I have learned from Scorpius in my own words, but then it appeared to me that there was no way I could write this as clearly as Scorpius had done that in the end, I decided that I should just produce a copy of Scorpius' words in order for you to have a full grasp of how your son is doing. Keep in mind that I have only included the parts concerning Albus from two different long letters so this may appear a little disjointed.

 _I know this may sound very strange, dad, but I have been worrying that Albus seems to be spending way too much time in the library lately. I used to be the one who was always dragging my best friend to the library to study or to do homework, where he would always try his best to distract me from my studies but he is now the one who suggests to visit the library every other day, where he would not even whisper to me and would appear so focused that I could barely get him to smile there even when I try my hardest. Of course we are still together all the times and we still talk a lot but there were quite a few times when we were just having fun, chilling, snacking or talking when he would suddenly go all quiet and suggest to go study, sometimes even when there is no quiz coming up or any homework due. This may be wrong but I feel like he suggests to go to the library whenever he does not want to talk, or he would suggest for us to go practice flying or to visit Professor Longbottom for tea. I am not sure if you could understand but Albus used to talk about himself a lot that I used to know almost everything about him, these days he seems to keep so many secrets to himself that I feel a bit nervous about trying to get him to talk._

 _There was this one time when Albus had asked me to tell him all about the Triwizard Tournament. For obvious reasons, I was hesitant to talk about it but he looked at me with this surprisingly intense determination that I had no choice. Albus had never liked to hear about Harry's past but recently I have found him reading about the Second Wizarding War himself. I was offended that he did not ask me to tell him about it that I made it very clear to him how I felt. He ended up giving a little forced laugh then gave in to have me narrate the whole war to him. You know there were so many intense moments during the war concerning Harry that I would hesitate to tell those parts but he would insist that I should not leave out anything. More than once he had cried or looked visibly upset that I had to stop to comfort him and I would want to call it a day but he would calm and make sure that I would continue until well into the night. It was a bit unbelievable to me how little he had known about the specifics of the war though, he had heard about bits here and there but overall, Albus had been pretty clueless about the majority of Harry's experience. I ended up talking about the war for five evenings that by the end of it, both of us were physically and emotionally drained._

 _I have been feeling so troubled recently because Albus seemed to have perfected a silencing spell without me knowing and he has been using it almost every night to prevent me and our roommates from hearing his nightmares. While I am really proud of his newfound abilities, it hurt to think that he has been hurting but would want to keep it a secret from me. I honestly thought that after all we had been through, we would be able to tell each other everything. Albus does not take Ancient Runes so there are bound to be times when we are not together but still, it was hard to believe that he had even gotten a sleeping draught from Madam Pomfrey without telling me, which I only found out the other day._

 _I had only confronted my best friend once before, in an alternate universe regarding matters that concerned the entire world no less, that I was not sure how to do it especially because the last thing I wanted was to make things worse for him, so I had talked with both Rose and Professor Longbottom about it. Both of them basically said something along the lines of if anyone could get him to talk, it would be me. I knew Albus had been writing regularly to Harry but there was no way he would have confessed to his father. I thought of how he had been there for me last year, which gave me the determination to talk to him._

 _I talked with Albus on a Saturday morning when he had slept in, so by the time he woke up, we were all alone in our room. I was hoping that he would let his guard down and be more easily persuaded to talk being not completely awake. Unfortunately, he seemed to have been jerked awake the moment he registered my question about the spell. At first Albus had looked away and had said that he had no idea what I had been talking about, but then he knew that there was no point lying after taking one look at me. He admitted what I had known all along and mumbled something about me deserving to have peace. It was absolutely stupid of him to believe that I could have "peace" when my best friend was suffering and I told him as much. Honestly, he did not have to tell me all about his nightmares or whatever else it was that was hurting him but I had felt disappointed that things had been bad enough for him to take sleeping draught but he would not even say a word about anything to me._

 _After me painstakingly pretending to be angry with him for five minutes, Albus finally confessed that the nightmares had been about Craig and the Cruciatus Curse. Those things were indeed very terrible but something about the way he had talked so quickly told me that he had to be dreaming about something even worse as well, but I let it dropped because it was evident that he had indeed been feeling upset about the death and the curse. The thing about the curse is that I know that I had been in pain but I do not actually remember the pain itself or any screaming by myself. I do, however, acutely remember Albus' screams. I know for sure that while the curse was cast on me, the mental pain he felt for witnessing it could not be any less than the one I felt. But if these were indeed only the easy parts that he felt okay admitting, I do not even want to imagine what the worse nightmares could possibly be that he is still hiding from me._

 _It was kind of embarrassing because I ended up tearing up because I felt so sorry for him that he had to comfort me in return. I wanted so badly to be able to do something to make things easier for him that I basically asked him directly what I could do, but then he got all cryptic and asked me to "keep being shiny and happy." I told him this would be quite impossible now after learning about his secrets, he then looked at me with his intense green eyes and insisted that I should not let his nightmares affect the both of us, it took a long time but I promised him that I would try to stay happy in the end, on the conditions that he would not keep all his pain a secret from me, he would let me accompany him if he ever need to meet with Madam Pomfrey again and he would try to write to his parents about his nightmares. To be honest, both of us were such a mess by the end of this conversation._

 _I know that I am not supposed to tell you this but I have been worrying about Albus with nobody else I could talk to. A part of me really wants to write to Mr Potter but it would be so weird to do so, especially without Albus' knowledge. He has told me that his father had seen him having a nightmare once so he is not completely clueless about it. However, Albus has the bad habit of ignoring questions he does not want to answer that I am sure he had been ignoring Mr Potter's questions for almost two months. Albus sent out a letter to him just two days ago but if I had such a difficult time getting him to talk, he certainly would not let on much to his father. I am not even sure what Harry could do with this information specifically but for some reason, just like how the conflict between Albus and Mr Potter had been what got our "adventures" started at the first place, I feel like if there is a key to help Albus with his nightmares, it would be his father. After all, Albus has always been too obsessed about how his father would think about him for his own good and Mr Potter himself had his fair share of nightmares in the past. As you have written that you have been writing to Mr Potter regularly, could you possibly write to him about Albus' nightmares? You do not have to do it if you do not want to, dad, it is certainly not my intention to force this burden on you but I would be so grateful if you can drop him a little hint or two about how Albus is doing._

As you can tell from Scorpius' words, our deal is not the only reason why I am writing to you regarding Albus' condition. I have never mentioned the promise to my son so I was pretty shocked myself to read his request. Of course I am biased but Scorpius possesses the same sensitivity and intuition as his mother did that sometimes I do wonder if he is secretly talented in Legilimency. For this reason I have learned to always trust his judgement regarding people and feelings. He obviously believes that revealing more about Albus' nightmares to you would be helpful to your son and that sounds reasonable to me based on the conversations we had about our sons. I may not know Albus too well personally but as I have said before, I do care about him and want the best for him. While I have been given permission to reveal some personal information to you, I have certainly revealed way more than I should. This is done because I know I would have given anything last year to get a glimpse of Scorpius' life in Hogwarts from your son's perspective. I have been in that position when I had felt powerless in comforting my son and I would not wish that on another father. Of course, the last thing I would ever want is to jeopardise the hard-earned trust I now share with Scorpius. You may show your wife your son's situation, do whatever you need to do to cheer Albus up, reach out to him, to get him to talk or just to make him know that you are there for him but I would appreciate you not to reveal to Albus or anyone else what you know he is experiencing and the source of your information.

Yours sincerely,

Draco Malfoy"

* * *

A/N: For the most part, I have been glad of my decision to write this fic in Harry's perspective, but of course there are limitations that come with this. The only ways I could show an arc that happens away from Harry are through conversations and letters but realistically speaking, there is only so much one gets to read in letters about another, not to mention it could get quite repetitive to have Harry reading letters too often. I have always wanted to write this bit from Scorpius' perspective but it's been a dilemma as I believe it'd take so much for Draco to basically just show Harry Scorpius' letter but I have tried to rationalize it the best I could.

Again, thank you so much for your support. Please comment =)


	34. Unconditional

It had been a spontaneous decision of Harry's to ask Draco to look out for his son that the truth was, he had not really expected something to come out of it (nor had he wished anything to come out of it) but he was now glad to have asked despite the dilemma the Malfoys' letter had placed him in. When he had realised that his new friend had copied Scorpius' words directly for him to read, he had felt conflicted about reading as it felt like an act of betrayal to that sweet boy but in the end, the temptation had just been too great since Scorpius had been the one person with whom Al had shared his nightmares. Scorpius was right in the sense that there was nothing in particular he could do for Albus even after learning more about his nightmares given that his son had just specifically requested him not to ask about the nightmares in his subsequent letters. Al would get suspicious as well if he displayed too much concern on other areas of his life in his letters, especially about things he was not supposed to know about at the first place like Al's new-found interest in history. Nonetheless, the new knowledge itself was indeed valuable for him as he at least understood now what he was going up against that he would not have to help his son blindly.

As he had expected, Albus' nightmares were at least partially about his guilts, which made perfect sense given his son's active role in Delphi's plans. Harry could give excuses for Al or blame himself for driving his son away all he wanted but even he could not deny that the boy had been at least partially to blame in the Time Turner incidents. If he had to guess, the guilt Albus was experiencing would likely be more similar to the one he had felt following Sirius' death, in which he had been responsible for being gullible and careless, than the guilt he had felt for Cedric's death, in which he had been completely set up by Barty Crouch Jr. and could not have controlled or predicted in any way. Albus had, after all, actively dragged Scorpius with him to seek Delphi out after their first meeting, had stolen the Time Turner and had even used it _multiple times_. Someone else might have been killed or tortured by Delphi had Albus not fallen into her traps but it would be a lie if he tried to convince his son and himself that Albus had been completely innocent in Craig's death and Scorpius' torture. Well-intentioned or not, his son would be burdened by these guilts for years to come, all because the boy had wanted to set right something he had failed in the past. The realisation brought him profound sadness because while his boy might not have been perfect nor completely blameless, he was only a lost and overshadowed boy trying to do some good to prove his worth and to earn his stupid father's approval. Had the boy make some mistakes? Totally. Did Albus deserve to suffer from nightmares and his guilty conscience for years to come? Definitely not, at least not in Harry's opinions.

He did not know what to make out of Albus' new-found curiosity regarding the Triwizard Tournament and the war at all. Harry had never been comfortable with fame and his past that he had never actively tried to tell his children his life story. He had figured that they would learn what they would need to know in a more objective account in history classes anyway that there had been no reason for him to subject them to his awkward storytelling. He had, however, talked about Snape in detail with Albus because some of his more tactless cousins had given him some hard times as a child because of his middle name that he had felt the need to make sure that Al would understand that Severus Snape had truly been an admirable man. In any case, reading this part of the letter reaffirmed what he had heard, that Scorpius was basically a walking _A History of Magic_. He smiled at the thought but then could not help wondering how on earth had Draco or Astoria first talked to the young Malfoy about their family past. Albus had been unhappy enough to have wished that Harry had not been his father. If Scorpius had been anything like Albus, he would have hated Draco enough to want him dead for giving him a name that had associated him with not only Death Eaters, but also Voldemort, thus condemning him to years of bullying and harassment. Remembering Draco's letter and the interactions shared by the Malfoys on the platform recently, he was once again reminded of how accepting and sympathetic a child Scorpius was for wholeheartedly loving his father despite his darker past.

He was aware that both the Malfoys had taken a huge risk by giving him such information that he felt extremely touched by the personal interests they had taken in Albus' well-being as well as the unexpected trust in himself they had shown. Scorpius, in particular, was the best friend he could ever ask for _anybody_ that with each passing day, it had become more and more unbelievable that he had tried to cold-heartedly separate this loyal and tender-hearted boy from his only friend. Harry had grown so fond of the young Malfoy himself that he believed he could understand where his son was coming from when he had asked his best friend to stay happy. Remembering Al's first letter to him after Godric's Hollow, his son had felt guilty about dragging his friend into this that his biggest worry at the time had been the possibility of any permanent harm done to Scorpius. It could have been so relieving to him that Scorpius had been okay that it had not mattered to him when he himself had started having nightmares. Albus might have felt responsible in some ways for what had happened that it had felt "okay" for him to be the one to endure the nightmares, as long as his innocent friend would not have to suffer beyond his previous torture.

* * *

For the hundredth time since their return from Godric's Hollow, he talked to Ginny again about Albus. Like himself, she had felt conflicted about reading Scorpius' words to his father but unlike himself, she had resisted the temptation to read herself and had resorted to asking him to tell her the gist of the message. She agreed with him that there was nothing alarming enough about Albus that they had to notify Professor McGonagall and that extra weekend visit would likely raise the boy's suspicions. Despite having taken the news of Albus' nightmares pretty well, Ginny had appeared more distracted than usual during this one of many conversations of the same kind they had had about their youngest son.

"Ginny…" _Silence_ , they were lying on their backs, waiting to fall asleep having talked about Albus for the last twenty minutes in a conversation that had not really gone anywhere.

"What's wrong, Gin?" He turned towards her and circled his arm around her waist to turn her towards him. He had not lighted his wand but was surprised to see some moistures beneath her eyes, reflecting the bright moonlight streaming through the window. Had Lupin been alive, he would have been a werewolf right now.

"Nothing…" It was obviously not nothing when one of the toughest women he had ever known was dabbing the handkerchief she had always kept on her bedside table under her eyes. After a beat, she said, "this reminds me of our early days, soon after the war, when you had nightmares all the times and I would hold you to sleep… If only I could do the same for Al. He has been through way too much in the past few months and they are still so young." She was undoubtedly a bit upset but was able to keep her voice well under control.

It was disturbing to see Ginny like this that he was not sure how to respond. Could he really blame her when she had borne with years of interrupted sleep, sometimes even by screamings and pathetic sobbings by himself only having to see these happening all over again to her baby now that he had stopped having nightmares? Harry had never been great at comforting people that at times, he tried to do so by making the most pathetic jokes. "Well… Al may like you better but being held to sleep by his mother at fourteen is a foolproof recipe for years of teasing."

Instead of laughing or smiling at his terrible joke, she replied dryly with her slightly nasal voice, "Thank you for your valuable insight, Mr Potter." She put away her handkerchief then turned back to him, "You know, Harry, sometimes it's okay to just say nothing when you don't know what to say."

With her spoken permission, he did as he was told by shutting up and just silently holding her in his arm. He was ready to try to go to sleep again but then something Ginny had just said made him wanted to talk about something he had never addressed.

He asked softly, "Gin… are you still awake?" He heard her sighed, "Yes, unfortunately."

"Do you know if Al has ever liked a girl? I know the boys don't really have much of a social life in Hogwarts because of the bullying but I heard Neville said that some of the kids are treating them like heroes following the incidents… I know Al has been troubled but he's a nice kid and he seems to be doing much better in school, perhaps it would help him if he finds a girlfriend?"

She answered with an unexpected smirk, "Honestly, Scorpius is the only person I could imagine holding Al to sleep without being forcefully pushed away by our moody son."

Thinking of the way their son always lighted up whenever he saw the young Malfoy, or whenever Scorpius was merely mentioned, Harry would have to agree… but then… could this mean that… the thought was so shocking that he quickly detached himself from his wife and jumped up. She reluctantly sat up as well, then picked up her wand. "Lumos." However, when he looked at her face, she looked apparently amused when she asked, "What's got into you, Harry?"

"You don...don't think Al… he likes S-Scorpius, do you?"

She shrugged and replied as if she was talking about the weather, "What if he does? What if he doesn't?"

"Well… if h-he does, that would mean… it would mean that he's … gay." But then, he remembered something, "But I remember... Albus saying Scorpius is obsessed with Rose…"

She shook her head as if pondering how he could miss the obvious, "You know, Harry, who Scorpius likes, or believes himself to like has nothing to do with whether our son likes boys or not. Albus could still like Scorpius even if Scorpius is straight." Her expression turned serious, "Would you look at him or Scorpius any differently if he or if they are gay?"

"Of course not!" He shook his head defensively. He suddenly remembered how Ron had asked him if he would mind Scorpius dating Lily… or Albus back on Christmas day. Why would Ron of all people had asked the question that way? Had he really been the most clueless person in his family? But then he thought about Scorpius, his son was most definitely the happiest around his best friend and he himself had wanted to welcome Scorpius and Draco into their family gatherings like the Weasleys had welcomed him back when he had been in Hogwarts. Did it matter to him whether Scorpius stayed his son's best friend or became his son's boyfriend? The boy was the bravest and sweetest kid he had ever known, period, braver than his own sons and nephews, as evident by how he had reversed Voldemort's alternate universe and had endured the tortures, and sweeter than his own daughter and all his nieces, as shown by the way he had given them all flowers. No matter what would happen in the future, whether as best friends or as a couple, Albus and Scorpius simply belonged with each other.

Ginny seemed to be able to see the wheels turning inside his head as she gave him a knowing smile and shrugged again before lying on her back again, "Of course, what do I know about boys' friendship? They could very well be just _very_ good friends." Harry had believed that he had been as close to Ron as two male friends could ever be but remembering the hugs shared between the boys when they had parted ways on the platform, when they had seen each other on Christmas day and when they had "reunited" again after the break, he decided that Albus and Scorpius were so much more intimate friends than he and his now-brother-in-law had ever been.

"I suppose I was just surprised because the possibility had never crossed my mind. Of course the only thing that matters to me is Albus' happiness, something he needs more than ever now. And he is certainly the happiest when he's with Scorpius." He was talking to Ginny as much as he was saying the thought out loud for himself. It would be the easiest thing to accept Scorpius as Albus' boyfriend. If anything, it would be such a relief to know that Al's partner would accept and love him so unconditionally. (He felt confident that the boys did love each other even though he did not know if the love was purely platonic.) The more he thought about it, the more pleased Harry felt by the idea of Albus getting together with his best friend. But then his thought took an unexpected turn to return to Albus' nightmares, so when Al had written on the last letter that he had spoken to Scorpius about the nightmares, it had been Scorpius who had confronted him to force the (partial?) truth out of Al's mouth instead of Al taking the initiative to open up in front of his best friend. How bad had the nightmares had to be for him to hide it from Scorpius?

"Gin...how would I be able to help Al when he's barely willing to tell Scorpius anything?"

In the dark, he felt her hand slipping into his before squeezing his tight. "Harry, you're not alone in this, you know. You and me, Scorpius, Rose, Neville and even Draco… we are all trying to help Albus. If James, Lily, Ron, Hermione, Mum and Dad know, they would all be trying to help as well. When would you ever learn not to shoulder a burden on your own?"

"I… I guess it has felt like more of my responsibility because I'm supposed to be most experienced with nightmares myself, coupled with the fact that it had all started because I had said the unthinkable to him." He replied sheepishly.

"Which would make me the expert in comforting someone suffering from nightmares then? Then shouldn't I be the one who shares at least equal responsibility in this? And you really should stop blaming yourself that much for driving him away, anyone would be upset when his most precious possession was dismissed as a moldy blanket. We all say things we don't mean when we're upset. I love Albus and would do anything for my son but he did press your buttons first."

"Hmm…but I should not have risen to the bait. I'm the father and I should..."

"You are only human, Harry. What you should remember now is that we are all trying to help him. You're not alone in this and we should go to sleep _soon_." He felt her turning towards him so he did the same. She gave him a comforting smile then gently brushed her lips against his. The kiss was not passionate at all but in a way it was one of the most intimate ones they had shared.

"I know you won't believe me, Harry…" Ginny was now whispering so close to his ear that his skin could feel her breath, "but you are an excellent father."

It took so much for him not to break their current positions to look her in her eyes, "Now you're just lying to make me feel better, Gin."

"Told you that you wouldn't believe me." She had repositioned herself that he now found his nose almost touching hers, she was looking straight at him. Without his glasses and perhaps because she was being too up close, she appeared a bit blurry to him but he kind of liked it. "I meant it from the bottom of my heart, dear. You love them with all your heart and you would try to express it no matter how awkward it feels. Sure you have made some mistakes, especially with Al, but when you mess up, you work harder than anyone to fix your wrongs. Most importantly, you would never give up."

Here she pressed her other hand on his chest, "Keep doing what you have been doing, just be there for him and be patient… he will feel it. Of course it may be better if he tells you his nightmares but even if he doesn't, you have been and you are helping. You just need to be more confident in yourself, love."

He was too overcome with emotions to say anything, instead he pressed his lips to hers to wordlessly express his gratitude for everything.

* * *

Over the course of the next few days, Harry would rack his brain to come up with something he could do for Albus without him suspecting his knowledge of his nightmares. Like Scorpius, he had absolutely no idea what he could do for the boy but unlike Scorpius, he could not ask Al directly, which made it doubly difficult for him now that he did not even know what would be safe for him to write in his letters. He could not understand how everyone, from Ginny, Draco to Scorpius, could believe that he would be able to help his son when he had allowed his nightmares to plague himself for _decades_. Not only did he desperately want them to be right, that he could help his son, he would also hate to disappoint Ginny and Scorpius, the two people who selflessly loved his flawed but sensitive boy as much as he did, that he worked very hard to cheer Albus up in his following letter.

Albus had complained earlier about the ancient broomsticks he could borrow in Hogwarts and how James always needed his for Quidditch practice that Harry thought it acceptable for him to finally mention the possibility of helping Al to pick his very own broomstick in Diagon Alley during Easter break in a letter. While his son had indeed seemed reasonably pleased about the prospect of getting his own broomstick, it was nothing compared with the enthusiasm the boy had shown responding to Harry's plan about introducing Teddy to the Malfoys that he could not help feeling a bit proud of himself. Unfortunately, this was not really the surprise Harry had expected because Scorpius had excitedly mentioned the news to Albus earlier. His son had kept silent as he had wondered when his father would open up to him. Nonetheless, this was the most excited Albus had been since the nightmares, as evident by how he had recounted in great detail Scorpius' anticipation to finally witness Teddy's iconic hairdos. It was quite satisfying for Harry to know that he had significantly lifted his son's moods but in his excitement to imagine the nice impending meeting among his own family, the Malfoys, Teddy and Andromeda, he felt ashamed to realise for the first time how such a meeting would have felt for James and Lily.

His other children might consider Teddy and Andromeda as family and might have been easy-going in general but there would be no way for them to not feel left out sitting through such a dinner, especially when Harry and Ginny had yet to tell them much about the Time Turner incidents beyond what had been known to the public. Albus would of course be excited to sit next to Scorpius, to see his best friend interact with Teddy for the very first time, but he did not trust himself to be the sole facilitator on the interactions between Draco and Andromeda that he needed Ginny to pay close attention to them with him. Where would this leave James and Lily, who would definitely be sitting at the end of the table? He knew he had indeed been more attentive to Al than his other kids following the incidents and Albus' nightmares but he was determined that he would not alienate any of his kids ever again. A crazy solution presented itself while he was agonising at work about needing to go to the pub after work on a _Monday's evening_ for Ron's birthday, a celebration in which all of their dormmates as well as George would come, even though Neville and Harry would have to arrive late. It could be challenging but if he could pull this off, he would be able to kill two birds with one stone.

* * *

A/N: I should clarify that this fic has never meant to be and will never be a Scorbus fic because it's been overdone and there are already so much going on that I don't want the main plot to be distracted that I have deliberately kept Scorpius' relationship with Rose similar to that in CC. (the boys are still young with plenty of time to realize their love for each other anyway) I didn't think I'd even hint at Scorbus at first but I wanted Harry to have this conversation with Ginny here because in my opinions, just the interactions between the boys in CC would justify any couple having such suspicion about their children and I believe this can highlight how unobservant Harry is as a father, even though he's open and accepting.

I'm still struggling to write these days, some days I feel confident that I have a very solid story to tell, other days I'm convinced that no one would care and my writing is crappy. Humor and romantic interactions are something I have always struggled to write that I always feel self-conscious about those parts. I also struggle to come up with a suitable chapter title here. I suppose I'll pick something later on.

Thanks again for your continuous support. Please comment.

 **Edit: Named the chapter for consistency, even though it may not be a good choice.**


	35. The Riddle

For the most part, Harry had believed that he had made a very suitable career choice despite all the overtime and endless paperwork he had to deal with in a daily basis, as he was genuinely good at his job and he had quite enjoyed certain aspects of the job, but he surely would be lying if he said he had never felt jealous of Ron for the freedom and flexibility his best friend enjoyed in his job, to have the choice to go in to work whenever he was pleased, especially on a Tuesday morning after getting a terrible hangover the previous night for celebrating his best mate's birthday. While Harry very much preferred being a working level Auror who would spend the majority of his working hours on the field, being the Head of Department at least meant that he would not be told off for coming in late once in a while, specifically the day after returning home at two thirty only to realise that he had run out of hangover potion, or so he thought when he entered his office at almost eleven, which was about two hours later than usual.

"You're late, Harry." His other best friend greeted him from _his_ seat without making any eye contact as soon as he opened his door, while reading what he suspected to be one of those reports which had been buried at the bottom of his mountain for at least a month.

"Merlin, Hermione! You may be my boss but it's considered basic manner not to go through someone's stuff in the person's room behind his back, especially when I'm at least the Head of department." He knew he was in the wrong but it was hard to keep himself respectful when he felt like his privacy had been invaded while his head was exploding.

"Said the Head of department who has arrived to work two hours late without calling in, who has been neglecting a whole mountain of reports and who has apparently been too hungover to even realise he had gotten a Floo-call from his _boss_ at half past nine at home." She recited matter-of-factly without raising her eyes from the document she was reading. He did feel bad about disappointing her but considering the circumstances, he inevitably felt a bit annoyed at her.

"I get it, Hermione. But you of all people should understand that the only reason I would ever go drinking on a Monday evening was to celebrate _your husband_ 's birthday and that he would never let me go before finishing my third drink. And I thought you would show a bit more understanding on this particular day."

"Third? I know you're not good, Harry, but you probably have the worst tolerance among all the people I know." As if this conversation could not get any more annoying to him, she chose to finally look at him while teasing him about his alcohol tolerance.

"Said the person who always refuses to have more than one drink under all circumstances." He tried to look as impassive as he could.

She shook her head then sighed, "As Minister for Magic, of course I have to make sure that I would be functional at all times. I do appreciate you making Ron's birthday special for him while I was busy but if I can't expect a bit more cooperation from my best friend at work, how helpful could I expect my other subordinates to be when we have only just started to earn back some goodwill from the public." She placed a tiny bottle of hangover potion on the surface from beneath the table while giving him a conciliatory look.

It took every bit of self-control he had not to rush over to grab the potion before devouring the whole bottle in one gulp. Instead, he silently walked over, gave her what he intended to be a simultaneously apologetic and grateful look before calmly picking up the potion and drinking it on the spot. He could feel his head cleared and his nausea disappeared before even finishing the potion. There was not any indication anywhere but he could simply tell that the potion had been home-brewed by Hermione herself.

"Feeling better?" She sounded truly curious as if there was a chance her potion could not work. Behind Snape and Slughorn, Hermione was the most talented potion-maker Harry had ever known.

"Much better," He could not resist giving her a warm and proud smile, "this is the best hangover potion I have ever tried, you should consider selling it."

"Well, Ron needs something stronger sometimes." She shrugged while standing up, "I'm glad you're feeling better, I should get going." She was already on her way towards the door holding the report she had been reading.

"Hmm... Hermione, why were you calling me earlier?" He was hoping that he could silently convey his apology by appearing eager to return to work.

She did not even turn towards him but he could see her gesturing towards the report she was holding, "It's already been taken care of, don't worry about it." He could tell she was busy but she was always busy and she was definitely relatively free right now.

"Wait, Hermione, can I ask you something?" He asked before giving himself the chance to reconsider his plan. He might regret it as he had not even discussed it with Ginny.

She turned back towards him with the report closed, looking surprised and curious. "Sure, go ahead."

"Would you be free on the Sunday after Easter?" Being the dedicated Minister she was, he knew his best friend essentially worked every day and Easter was another day for family that she would not miss out, making the chance pretty slim for her to be available two weekends in a row.

"Hmm… I would be spending time with both my family as well as Ron's family during Easter and the MACUSA president will be visiting at the end of April that I would very much prefer to catch up with work a bit that Sunday… why are you asking?" Hermione did not sound judgemental in the slightest but he was already regretting to have asked at all.

A part of him really wanted to take his question back but he might as well asked anyway even though he knew he sounded juvenile to want to involve the Minister for Magic in his gathering just to make things easier for his family. "Well… it's totally okay if you can't make it but I'm going to have Andromeda and Teddy over to introduce Teddy to the Malfoys at a dinner at my home… I don't know if I have told you but I've been writing to Draco regularly these days and we have gotten… hmm friendlier. I thought it might be a good idea if your family can visit earlier on the day and to stay for dinner as well…" He honestly did not remember the last time he had been this tongue-tied in front of her.

"Let me guess… you are hoping that Ron and I could get friendlier with Draco?" He nodded. "And you have not hinted at this in front of Ron at all despite drinking for hours with him last night?" He nodded again, feeling very much like a schoolboy getting caught.

She looked thoughtful for half a minute before continuing, "I was wondering why you would want us at the dinner… could you possibly want Ron and Rose to distract James with Quidditch or something and Hugo to distract Lily so it would not be a bore for them, who are essentially strangers to the Malfoys?" He raised his hands in surrender, "You have guessed everything, Hermione, now would you consider coming?... and perhaps to talk Ron into coming?"

Hermione gave him an unexpectedly teasing smile, "You know, Harry, you can be very predictable sometimes, and I thought you would have been more open in front of Ron after your talk at the Burrow."

He did not really mind the teasing itself as she was right as always but not so much to have been teased only to have received no answer at all. "Yeah, I get it, Hermione. I should be asking him myself but would you mind doing it?"

"Can I ask you something?" She did not wait for his answer before proceeding, "Why is it so important for you to help Draco? I know you two are friends now but I feel like your interest in the Malfoys has far exceeded that for a regular friend. Or have you two already become really good friends?"

It was a good question that demanded an elaborate answer that he was not sure where he should begin. He needed Hermione to be on his side that he took his time to come up with the most important part. "Of course we are not that close… I suppose it all began on the day Malfoy showed up at my door demanding to know why I had separated the boys from each other. I have made a terrible mistake to an innocent boy which has made me wanted to make up to Scorpius ever since Godric's Hollow. He did not have to but Draco admitted to me in my kitchen then that he had felt jealous of us three back in Hogwarts. It made me realise for the first time how lonely and helpless he had been."

She nodded and said sympathetically, "Draco definitely had matured a lot, especially in the way he had offered his Time Turner to help. I really feel bad about them losing Astoria so soon too." His best friend had been so busy with work these days that he did not realise how much he missed confiding his personal problems to her. She was a brilliant listener and she always had an answer to everything that suddenly, he wanted to tell her all about Albus' guilt and nightmares and the helplessness he had been feeling in helping his son. But the first thing on the agenda was to persuade her whole family to give the Malfoys another chance.

"Exactly, Hermione, Scorpius may look bubbly even after their adventures but he's in many ways still a grieving child who thinks about his mother a lot. I randomly got the idea to let Al visit the Malfoys on Christmas day and it was one of the best decisions I have made in a while. I realised that day that Draco is essentially on the same boat with his boy as Ginny and I are with Albus, so it just makes sense for us to support each other, especially with Albus and Scorpius being best friends. We have made some sort of agreement that day and Malfoy has honoured his promise, that I really want to do my part to make things better for them as well. Also, I have talked to Andromeda and Teddy and the excitement to meet the other family is certainly mutual instead of one-sided." He was rambling and sounded sort of desperate but he did not care.

She had been nodding approvingly without interrupting him once. "It's a great thing you're doing, Harry. I'm so glad you two are helping each other."

Sure it was a good sign that she appreciated his quest to connect the two families but this was not the answer he was anxiously anticipating. "Hmm… does it mean you'll help me then, Hermione?"

She looked unfazed about his impatience but to his annoyance, she seemed to be deliberately delaying to answer his question. "I'll answer you after you solve my riddle."

"What? What riddle? This makes absolutely no sense at all, Hermi…"

She ignored him to go ahead with her riddle anyway, " _I am the creature you have not seen. I am you. I am me. The echo unforeseen. Sometimes in front, sometimes behind, A constant companion, for we are entwined._ " It could be because he had been taken completely off guard, or he was not in the mood for riddles, or because he had missed the beginning that she had to repeat it, or most likely because he was not good at riddles at all, but it took him eight minutes to solve it. He felt bad about holding her up but she was determined that he would have to solve the riddle himself that she just patiently read her report while waiting for him.

"I get it, it's shadow!" He was too relieved to get this over with.

"And you, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, would have been bound securely waiting to be caught red-handed if you had tried to steal the Time Turner." She could not feign the tiniest bit of excitement for his late success.

"Wait, is this the riddle you used to hide the Time Turner?"

"Yes, one of the riddles." She closed the report to look squarely into his eyes. " And Scorpius had solved this all on his own when Delphi and Albus had been swallowed by the library." He involuntarily let out a gasp hearing his son gotten swallowed, he had heard it before but it was something they had never dwelled on during their previous narrative about their adventures. Hermione, however, did not react to that at all. "You know, Harry, Rose would get annoyed when she got beaten in school and she had only ever been beaten by one person in Hogwarts." He knew that Scorpius was very intelligent that he was not surprised to hear him beating Rose and he admired the boy a lot, but he wished Hermione could just get to the point. "Meaning?"

"Scorpius is very bright and this is the perfect opportunity for me to get to know him better, perhaps I could even help nurturing him a bit. Besides, Draco has more than earned a second chance following the incidents. I will never forget Draco Malfoy defending us when we told the world about Delphi." In his excitement, he held her free hand and said, "Thank you so much, Hermione! And Ron…"

"Don't worry, I'll talk to him, not that I believe he'll mind too much anyway. Honestly, I'm pretty sure he has somewhat warmed up to Draco. He has told me about twenty times that he could not believe that Malfoy would apologise to him for poisoning him after twenty-four years." This Harry could definitely believe as he had heard the same thing for at least five times himself that very day when it had happened.

"Besides, he had heard you two talking about the gathering on the platform that day and had been so curious about it. I think he has been secretly wondering if you were going to invite him." Uncharacteristic of her, she gave him a smirk.

"Oh." Thinking back to the day, he had to agree Ron had seemed strangely nosy about the gathering when he had asked him about it over lunch. They had moved on a couple of times to some other topics only to be brought back into it by some random question his mate would come up with, like what he was planning to serve for dinner, as if he were some professional chef who would be planning the courses of a meal months ahead.

He should let her go back to work now but there was another favour he wanted to ask of her. "I really appreciate your help, Hermione, but there's something else I want to ask you…" She raised an eyebrow but did not look displeased. "I know there'll be so much going on in April… but I'm wondering if I can have the Monday off after said Sunday."

She sighed then said, "That's kind of bad timing, Harry, but why is it so important for you to have the day off before the kids returning to school?" Even though she was clearly not too happy about it, just the fact that she could guess that this had something to do with his children made it much easier for him to find the words.

"I-it's Albus. He has apparently been having nightmares for months about the incidents… and the Easter holiday will be for the whole family that I want to spend a day with him alone… just the two of us so I can spend some quality time with him for once. There's something I think we can do but I think I'll leave it up to him… I've been so troubled about this lately so it would mean a lot to me… if I..."

Unexpectedly, she interrupted him decidedly, "Of course you can have the day off, we'll be able to arrange something. Oh, Harry… I'm so sorry about Albus." She suddenly threw her arms around him that he momentarily forgot that she was his boss, "I'm sorry this happens to you… but I am sure you'll be able to help him."

He was grateful for her understanding but he had heard such sentiments too often that he was truly confused, "But why? Why should you be feeling sorry for me when Al is the one who's suffering? I wish everyone would stop saying that I'd be able to help him. If I am really that great for him, he would not have nightmares at all at the first place."

She let go to look at him sympathetically, "Of course I'm sorry for Albus, but I'm also sorry for you, Harry, because bad things tend to happen to people closest to you. And you, being the selfless person you are, always feel terrible and beat yourself up for it even when it's not your fault. Knowing you, I can tell you would feel even worse when Albus is the one suffering… However, I _know_ you'll be able to help him because I remember how it was in Godric's Hollow. Both you and Albus had tried to save each other, both of you love each other so much. The heart of the matter between you two is miscommunication but the love is there and has always been there. I can't see how he could not get better when you're working so hard to help him because you care so much."

On the one hand, he wanted to believe that she was right but he did not feel confident enough to agree with her. On the other hand, what she said had been well-reasoned that it was hard to argue with her. He pursed his lips and chose to stay in silence instead. Sensing his conflicted feelings, Hermione gave him a pat on his back before finally leaving his room.

* * *

A/N: This chapter owes its existence to Scorpiusisthebest. I've never tried to write any part of the story to please any reader specifically but if I read a suggestion I like, I won't rule out incorporating it if I can find a way that works for the story, so Scorpius and Hermione are indeed going to meet later. I keep saying this and that character wasn't supposed to play a part but somehow, the fic has become so long that it seems wrong to not give Hermione a chance to shine when less important characters like Neville, Molly and Andromeda had had their moments, of course these characters' development happen at the cost of the fic being turned into a never-ending story. (I do know the ending but it feels like it's never-ending because just thinking about the road ahead gives me a headache sometimes.)

Thank you for all your support as always. A shout out to Blue Herons because I can't PM you.

PS: Have you ever find it weird that we know the Weasleys like they're our own family but barely know anything about Hermione's parents? I really felt the need to add her "my family" here because of that.


	36. Ice-Breaker

When Harry had first proposed to Draco to introduce his godson to the Malfoys, he had absolutely no idea what he had gotten himself into. He should have felt relieved when Hermione told him the next day that her family would be there for the gathering (of course Hermione was so efficient that she always got things done as soon as possible), but it was then when he felt his palms sweating as he realised he had not asked Malfoy if the arrangement would be agreeable to him. The changes in Draco over the past few months was of course reason enough for him to feel hopeful that he would agree, but his best friends had been one of the topics he had avoided mentioning in his letters as he had not wanted to risk making Malfoy feel uncomfortable given the meaner things his former nemesis had done or said to them in his youth that it was rather nerve-racking for him to not only bring them up, but also to suggest inviting them to what Draco would believe to be a more intimate dinner. With the Granger-Weasleys there, he had no doubt this gathering would end up feeling more like a party than a family dinner. He felt like an idiot for not realising this sooner but this needed to be done anyway. He had, however, come up with the best occasion to bring this up to maximise the chance for Malfoy to agree.

* * *

While Draco had been to the Potter's' house before (when he had come to reason with Harry about keeping the boys apart), he had never visited the house before as a guest. With the dinner gathering approaching, Harry thought it best to help his friend familiarise with the environment beforehand, which he believed would be helpful for someone who had lived in a castle-like manor his entire life, as well as to allow him to get to know Ginny better to make the upcoming dinner as least awkward as possible, so he invited Draco to a casual dinner at his home with just the couple on a Saturday evening. He hoped that with Ginny there to help persuade him, Malfoy would be more inclined to agree to dine with the Granger-Weasleys in attendance.

As it was still rather chilly in the beginning of March, Harry was wearing one of his many Weasley jumpers while cooking in the kitchen while Ginny was wearing a simple but elegant knitted top while reading on the sofa. He had just finished casting the temperature-moderating spells after finishing up with the dishes when he heard his floo activating. He hurried outside the room and was just in time to join his wife in welcoming his guest at the fireplace.

Harry had always intended this to be a very casual dinner but he inevitably started feeling underdressed under his own roof when he saw Draco Malfoy materialising at his Floo dressed in a navy-blue and black tight-fitting dress suit without one strand of hair out of place. He did not know how he did it but Malfoy was also completely clean without any soot on his skin, hair or clothes. Held in his hand was a bottle of luxurious-looking red wine. He calmly walked out of his fireplace with an expression that was neither particularly friendly nor unfriendly. He was not smiling but there was no trace of the smugness so oftenly seen on his pointy face in his youth, instead he looked serious but a bit unsure. It was no understatement to say that Draco Malfoy was out of his element here in his cozy sitting room.

Harry took a step forward with his outstretched hand and said, "Thanks for coming, Draco, but I believe I have told you that this is a very casual dinner."

"You and I have very different definitions on the word casual, Potter." It was the sort of things Malfoy would have said in his youth to mock or tease them but Harry could tell it was said now more as sarcasm and a way for him to gain his footing in this strange environment, as evident by the benign smirk on his face as Malfoy received his hand. He held the bottle up and said, "This is for you, Potters. Thank you for the… hmm, invitation."

He shook his head slightly while receiving the bottle, "Didn't we agree that you can call me by my name?"

"Well, it was simply more convenient to address the both of you this way." Draco looked awkwardly towards Ginny briefly before turning back to him.

It was now Ginny's turn to step forward, she gave their guest her most welcoming smile and said, "Draco, I really hope that I could be friends with you too now that you and Harry are friends. It's also more practical considering how our sons are inseparable. I know that we didn't have the best of start but you saved my son by providing the Time Turner and I will never forget that for the rest of my life. You have also shown a genuine care towards Al which I deeply appreciate. What I'm trying to say is that…" here she stuck out her hand, "I hope you and I can start over as well, just like how you did with Harry. And I hope you can call me Ginny from now on."

Harry thought his friend looked very uncomfortable being thanked that it looked to him almost like he might not agree to shake her hand but after a very long five seconds, he finally extended his hand and shook hers, "I don't think it would be possible for me to ever forget the horror of having bats flying out from my nose but… I was touched when you hugged Scorpius on the platform. It meant more than I can say for my boy and I was truly grateful for that… hmm, Ginny."

Harry always counted his blessing for having never angered Ginny to the point that she would perform _that_ hex on him. Her smile turned a bit tight and her face a bit red upon his mentioning of the spell but she relaxed when he moved on to Scorpius. In fact, she looked very excited when she gushed over, "But of course, Scorpius is just so sweet. He's the only kid I have known who would give something so nice back to an adult after receiving a Christmas present, not that an adult should really be expecting anything in return from a child except for a kiss, a card or something…" He thought Draco seemed to appear more relaxed and comfortable hearing praises for Scorpius than ones meant for himself that he even looked visually proud of his boy.

* * *

The evening was off to a good start but things got a little awkward when they started eating. For the meal, Harry had prepared some of his most well-received dishes including some Muggles' ones. He had finished everything, including dessert, in just forty minutes with a little help by magic. He saw his friend's eyes widened as soon as he tasted his soup.

"T-this is really good. Do you have a house-elf, P...Harry?"

He was about to answer when his wife beat him to it. "Didn't I tell you, Draco? Harry does most of the cooking here. He did have a house-elf at one point but that was a long time ago."

He could literally see the pale face coloured. "You did… mention, but I hmm... I had thought it was meant to be a joke." "Nope. I can't cook anything to save my life." She said without a hint of irony. It was subtle but Harry thought there was even a bit of pride in her tone.

"My wife couldn't really cook either, but neither can I. We would starve without the house-elves. Anyway, I asked because… I can't really see Harry Potter cooking, especially not this good." Draco's face was now as red as a tomato and Harry was pretty sure it was not all from the heat of the food.

"Hmm… thanks." They then ate in silence for five minutes that he was starting to wonder if having a dinner with just the three of them was a good idea. Fortunately, things got a bit easier soon enough.

"What do you do normally, Draco? I mean, no offense, but the Malfoy Manor is an awfully big house for your family." The Potter's house was not exactly small as each of their kid had his or her own room but of course it was tiny in contrast with the Malfoy Manor. They had opened Malfoy's wine as they moved on to the appetisers and Harry could not help wondering if Ginny was starting to feel drunk, which he doubted so as she was only on her second glass, but the question did appear a bit personal for someone like Draco Malfoy.

"I read a lot… of course I read the Daily Prophet and the Seeker Weekly, but also a few other publications from other countries. I have quite a collection in my library as well, a significant fraction of those has been acquired over the last ten years, since Scorpius had started reading, so there are a lot of interesting books to choose from. You would be surprised by the diversity, difficulty as well as the sheer number of books Scorpius read." The father's expression had naturally softened as soon as he started talking about his son.

"Oh, right! You did play Seeker for quite a few years, what's your favourite team?" There was no better way to get on Ginny's good side than to talk Quidditch with her. He could easily tell Draco was still very much a fan of the sport the moment he started talking about it. The conversation they had back in his office played back in his mind. _What did you want to do? Quidditch. But I wasn't good enough. Mainly I wanted to be happy._

"I read your column on the Prophet sometimes, it's … pretty good." Malfoy did look like he meant his words but he was so awkward trying to pay his host a compliment with his downcast eyes.

"Why, thank you." She flashed Draco a very pleased smile, which would be impossible for him to catch when he was suddenly looking at the meat on his plate so intently while cutting it. "Do you practice flying sometimes? The Malfoy ground is so huge it must be perfect for flying. I've been getting quite rusty lately."

"Not really… I don't remember having flew once since teaching Scorpius to fly on his training broom, back when she was still healthy enough to be able to sit out watching us. He is actually pretty good on a broomstick but he is the kind of child who enjoys flying more for the scenery or to feel the breeze in his hair."

Who would have thought that Draco would be the kind of person who would always steer a conversation towards his family? He would have felt surprised a year ago but certainly not now. Draco's life practically revolved around Scorpius now and he was not the least bit embarrassed to show it. Harry could, however, never imagine Lucius Malfoy talking about his family in such loving way, and that in itself spoke volumes about the fundamental difference between the father and son.

The evening flowed by pretty smoothly, Harry had expected himself needing to keep coming up with things to talk about to avoid dead air but surprisingly, this had become mainly a conversation between Ginny and Draco and he was more than happy to stay a listener for the most part. He had hoped that she would try cutting him a break by asking their guest about including his best friends' family in the Easter dinner herself, but no such luck.

"By the way, Draco, there's something Harry has been meaning to ask you about." Not only had she not tried to help him, she also chose to put him on the spot without giving him any warning, he gave her an annoyed look that he hoped Malfoy had not caught as he turned towards him expectantly and fixed his gaze on him.

"Hmm… I'm wondering... if the Sunday after Easter, three days before the boys' return, would be okay for you to have the dinner with Andromeda and Teddy." Harry could feel his face all warmed up within a second.

Malfoy responded very politely if not appearing a bit puzzled. "But of course, Harry, I have not planned for Scorpius and I to go anywhere so we are literally available for the whole Easter break." Knowing well that there had not been any reason for Harry to appear this nervous asking about his availability and sensing that his friend was hiding something, he asked tentatively, "Is there something else you are trying to ask me?"

Harry looked towards his wife to see if she would be willing to step in, instead, she waved her hand forward to urge him to talk while giving him an encouraging smile. "Draco," He took a deep breath, "I know… this is different from what you have agreed on but I am wondering if it would be okay for you if Ron, Hermione and their children join us that day? Also… would you two mind coming a little early in the afternoon to… hang out with us all… for a bit?"

Adult Draco had appeared so composed all the times that Harry had rarely seen him surprised, but he was visibly surprised at the moment with his slightly-parted mouth. "For a moment there, I thought you were meaning to give me some terrible news. That… that was not what I was expecting at all."

His more articulate wife had finally decided it was time for her to step in, "Draco, we understand that you don't get along well with Ron and Hermione, and the last thing we want is to make our guests uncomfortable in this gathering that is really dear to our hearts. That said, Harry could normally only afford to spend about five days in total with the family during the Easter holiday, this dinner should be equally important to our other children because it is usually the last full day they spend with Harry that we have to make sure that they would not feel left out. The easiest way for us to do that is to have other family members in attendance so they would not feel all awkward like outsiders at their own dining table. I can personally make sure that Ron will be in his best behaviours and if you're really uncomfortable with this, you will barely need to talk to them beyond a simple hi and bye."

There was a slight frown on Draco's thoughtful face, he took a moment before asking, "Have you asked them?" As much as Harry wanted to appear respectful towards Malfoy by not having made decisions before consulting with him, he could not lie so he nodded.

He raised an eyebrow, "So they are okay with this?" He nodded again.

"Draco, you have reason to feel unhappy about this and it's our fault for not having thought this through about James and Lily earlier. Of course we have been preoccupied with Albus lately but it's no excuse." Harry hated that Ginny would claim responsibility in front of their new friend when the carelessness was all on him. "However, I'm sure that the atmosphere would not be awkward with them here. Hermione has a lot of respect for you for the things you have done to help us in the incidents and I bet your conversation with Andromeda could go smoother with her here. She also thinks that Scorpius is brilliant that she would love to get to know him better. Also, Rose and Scorpius are friends now that surely it would make him more comfortable to have another friend here."

"I still believe it was kind of stupid of Hermione Granger to have hidden a Time Turner in a library but that aside, she's a rather competent Minister for Magic. Hmm… I do believe Scorpius would love meeting Granger a lot. Ron Weasley, on the other hand, not so much." Draco gave them a good-natured smirk while Harry was trying hard to suppress a smile at his best friend's expense.

Malfoy's expression turned serious as he continued, "I doubt you could have forgotten the last conversation we had in this very same house. Your friends and I may have our differences but even I can't deny that they are good people and insanely loyal friends to you, who has made your fair share of wrong and idiotic decisions despite your best intentions. As terrifying as it was for me to use the Time Turner to travel back in time that night with you lot, I hate to admit that… I actually felt a tiny bit happy and excited."

Harry was extremely confused, "What do you mean happy and excited?"

He had no intention to embarrass his friend, especially when it seemed like he was trying to convey his personal thoughts to him, so he could not help kicking himself when he saw Draco blushed. "Well… Unlike you, I had never shared such experience or any sort of adventure with anyone before… It was kind of thrilling to feel like I belong there but I kept expecting you all to realise any moment that I should not be there and would kick me out at the last minute."

"Of course we would never do that when you were the one who had provided us with the Time Turner and when Scorpius was in danger." Harry responded matter-of-factly with a visible frown on his forehead.

Ginny gave Draco a sad smile, "I can totally understand how you felt, Draco. It felt both right and wrong when I first joined the three of them on our mission to save Sirius back in my fourth year. We have been practicing Defense all year that it felt right for us to finally be implementing our skills but part of me could not believe that I was finally joining them in one of their adventures. Of course I got dumped the moment they decided to go hunt for Horcruxes together but it was good while it lasted." Harry was not sorry that he had broken up with her then because who knew what would have happened if she had joined them considering the countless narrow escapes they had encountered within that year that it was indeed a miracle that all three of them had survived. However, it made him very uncomfortable whenever she brought it up, which was unfortunately much oftener than he preferred.

Draco gave her a nod of acknowledgement before continuing, "As wrong as it seemed for me to be there, I could not help wondering why _your friends_ would be there that night when none of their children had been in danger. It made a bit more sense that Granger, being the Minister, would feel responsible for the incidents but the only reason for Ron Weasley to be there was loyalty. He might have made himself a fool in front of the whole wizarding community at the Extraordinary General Meeting when he blindly showed his support admitting he did not even know much about what was going on, but he did have something even I can appreciate." Harry could not believe his ears that Draco Malfoy was actually complimenting Ron Weasley. Judging from the way Draco immediately looked down upon noticing his reaction, he believed he had done a terrible job hiding his look of shock and wonder.

"Hmm… What I am… I have been trying to say is, if your friends could agree to dine with my family, I do not believe I have much right to feel upset about them being there. After all, they have every reason to dislike me, or even hate me if they want to. I truly appreciate that you have taken so much trouble to arrange the gathering for my family, so of course we will be willing to arrive early to… hang out." Malfoy pronounced the two words as if he had no idea what hang out meant. "Scorpius has never attended a dinner gathering with that many people before, I think he would like it. I admit that this could be a bit awkward for me but it'd be totally worth it if Scorpius could enjoy himself... It's just a bit surprising to me that they would agree to this at the first place."

"I think you're being a bit too hard on yourself, Draco, but that's perf…" He was going to say _perfect_ but his word was interrupted by the sudden activation of his Floo. He was not expecting anyone and a look towards Ginny told him that neither was she. He did not even have the time to check how his guest was reacting to the intrusion when he saw the red hair of his best friend he would recognise anywhere in the world.

* * *

A/N: I know Draco had called Ginny with her first name in the play but it had felt a bit too casual for me so I pretend that it's not done there. Anyway, I have two news for you today:

1\. self-promo time- I've just started posting a short "A Good Day" in which Draco told Scorpius about the Son of Voldemort rumor right before Scorpius started in Hogwarts. It referenced my other story "Difficult Confession" at times but could definitely be read on its own. Please check it out!

2\. This fic has passed **20000 views** last week. It has taken 24 chapter to get to 10000 views but I've been slower and have only written 11 more chapters since then. This feels like as good a time to do a group shout out as any because I've never done one before and who knows when and if this will get to another big milestone.

Many people have been so supportive and I could never thank you all enough because as I have iterated before, I truly would have given up this fic long ago without your support. So thank you to all of my readers, whether you have followed or favorited this fic or not and no matter where you come from. Thank you for everyone who has followed and favorited this because that simple act has brought me much satisfaction. Thank you everyone who has reviewed because reviews are my most important motivation that has kept me posting as regularly as possible. I really appreciate every one of you but I have to give a special thank to my repeated reviewers, even if some of you probably aren't around anymore. Special shout out to: pottermum, PopcornWolf10, Scorpiusisthebest, I love music, District DivergentPotterhead, Death Dame, MatronaBlack, Ronnie Jane, and especially to kahn 1969 and HogwartsDreamer113, who have both given some thoughtful and helpful feedback on my writing and have been very encouraging when I was feeling insecure. I am also grateful for those of you who have responded my PM because it makes me happy that someone would care about my story so much they would chat with me about it.

Usually, I would be well into the following chapter when I update because I like the security and this gives me ample time to detach myself from my writing before editing the chapter. I decide to post this chapter now because of the milestone even though the next chapter is almost non-existent.


	37. The Intruder

"Hey, Harry, guess what I've just won in…" Ron was happily waving something resembling a large-sized frame that had been carefully wrapped with brown paper before his smile froze as he realised that the Potters were not alone. Gingerly, he got out of the fireplace without bothering to rub the soot off of his nose, chin… and basically all over his jumper.

"Oh… I didn't think that you'd have guest." Harry was not entirely sure what to make out of his tone, Ron did not sound particularly upset but his previous excited mood had certainly been affected. He walked over slightly hesitantly as he gave Malfoy, who was sporting a neutral expression at the moment despite having just talked about Ron in front of the Potters a moment ago, a slight nod while looking at him curiously.

Harry sighed and said, "It's generally considered a good idea to call before barging into someone's home like that, Ron." He loved his two best friends with all his heart but he had not realised how similarly annoying the couple could be as he remembered how Hermione had repeatedly entered his office to look through his stuff behind his back.

Ron looked unfazed as he casually pulled out a spare chair to sit on at their table across of Draco. "Sorry, mate. I was just too excited to show you my Chudley Cannons team autographed poster." Harry could hear Malfoy give a barely audible snort which Ron had fortunately missed as he was fussing with the wrapping paper.

As much as Harry hated to side with Draco against Ron, he had to agree that his best friend had questionable taste when it came to Quidditch teams. He mustered as much enthusiasm as he could for his mate's sake, "That's cool!"

Ginny, however, did not mind embarrassing his own brother in front of their guest. "Harry, don't encourage him! Honestly, Ron, at this rate I will have to disown you if I don't want to risk ruining my reputation. How could I expect anyone to take my tastes and analysis seriously at work when my own brother is supporting the second to bottom team of the league? Also, do you have any idea how rude you were to just sit down like this without asking for permission?"

"Since when do I have to ask for permission to visit my sister and my best mate's home?" Ron seemed genuinely incredulous by her demand. However, upon catching a glimpse of Ginny's wand, which had quickly been withdrawn and was now pointed to his face, and her no-nonsense glare, he asked reluctantly, "Fine, would you mind if I join you here, Malfoy?"

To his credit, Draco gave Ron an amused but otherwise not offended look as he gestured his hand out and said, "I suppose not." It was not the most excited response but was enough to make Ron happily return his full attention to his new treasure.

"Anyway, regarding the Cannons, it's just a temporary setback, they will come back stronger, as they always do." He held the frame up to admire the poster with a silly grin. Harry could not resist rolling his eyes as he thought, if by stronger Ron had meant going from twelfth place to eleventh place. Of course Ron had not been able to see this but Harry realised with embarrassment that Draco had caught his rolled eyes as he looked at Ron with a smirk.

"By the way, I don't think you would mind if I have some of this cake? This looks delicious!" Ron had promptly gotten up himself to get an extra plate from the kitchen as if he was at his own home before receiving an answer, leaving his poster to take up a third of the table. It was a good thing that Harry had the habit to clear all the used plate and clean the table before serving desserts. Harry sighed as he wondered if his best friend was trying his best to embarrass himself in front of Draco, but it was unlikely as he could not have known about this dinner beforehand since it had only been confirmed two days ago and he had not told anyone about it. Therefore, Harry was more inclined to believe that Ron was just completely being himself.

Harry had baked a strawberry shortcake for dessert, he doubted it had been fancy enough to impress someone like Malfoy, who had grown up in luxury, but his guest seemed to have liked it quite a bit that he had finished his generous slice of cake within a few minutes, despite his flawless table manners, which was quite a contrast compared with the way Ron was devouring the cake at the moment. Having finished his own dessert before Ron had arrived, Draco had the same amused smirk on his face the whole time while Ron was eating, while Ginny was trying her best to ignore her brother to keep engaging their guest with small talks.

* * *

Although Harry wanted to go back to talk about the gathering, there was really not much to talk about now that Draco had agreed to attend, except for a couple of details which could totally wait. Even though Hermione had assured him that Ron was okay with it and had agreed to come, he was not ready to talk about it in front of Ron, who seemed completely ignorant of the annoyed looks Ginny was throwing him every other minute while he was cluelessly recounting the story about some idiot who had tried to steal from _Weasley Wizard Wheezes_ a few days ago with so much excitement that Ginny was struggling to converse with Draco without shouting that she finally gave up. Draco seemed to not mind quietly observing his old rival, who still had cream at the corner of his mouth and soot on his face, for his amusement though.

Harry thought really hard to come up with a topic of mutual interest for Draco and Ron except for Quidditch to avoid any further awkwardness but could not find it. If the Easter gathering was going to be anything like this, it was bound to be a disaster.

About fifteen minutes after Ron had arrived, while his best friend was having his second helping of the cake and requesting a slice that he could bring to Hermione, who was still working at the Ministry, for some late night snack, Draco suddenly said, "Thank you for your hospitality, Potters. I had a good time but it's getting late, I should get going." Harry looked at his watch, it was only ten thirty.

Draco was already standing up when Ginny protested, "But it's not that late, Draco. Is this because of Ron? If he's making you uncomfortable and want to leave, I can send him off because you are our dinner guest and he's the intruder." Ron gave her an insulted look but thankfully managed to keep his mouth shut.

Draco gave a small laugh. "I doubt Weasley could make me uncomfortable even if he tries." Even though the snark was delivered with a smug look, Harry thought Draco's eyes looked more playful than mean. He hated to admit it but a part of him actually missed this side of Malfoy as it felt exhausting and uncomfortable for him to bare his feelings to others saved Ginny and his best friends and for the past few months, most of his communication with Draco, both written and in-person ones, had been surprisingly personal to his liking.

However, he had no time to feel nostalgic about his teenage fights with his former nemesis as Ron had stood up and asked with a full mouth, "Are you challenging me, ponytail? I can think of at least fifty products from my store which can make you very uncomfo…"

Harry had interrupted his best friend with a pacifying pat on his shoulder, "Easy, Ron. Draco was just joking with you. Besides, he's my dinner guest and there is no way I would let you fight him." He suspected that if he did not interfere, he would not have to think back to his school days to relive a conflict he had had with Malfoy as it would play out right in front of him.

"Who said anything about fighting? Wanna bet that your new friend would feel more uncomfortable being tickled than burned?" Harry believed that Ron was joking but his tone sounded suspiciously serious.

If this had been one of the similar scenes in Hogwarts, Draco would try his best to provoke Ron further until this quickly escalated from snarks into an actual duel or fight. But instead of rising to Ron's bait, Draco just smiled teasingly while raising his hands half-way up, "My apologies if you're offended, Weasley. I've seen Scorpius playing with your stuff and I certainly don't want to be on the receiving end of whatever Umbridge had to deal with back then."

He had immediately dropped his hands before adding, "But I did expect the owner of a joke store to be able to take a joke much better than that. You might want to consider lightening up, or rather a change in career."

Draco did not even waited for a response from Ron, who did not seem to know how to react as he had gotten himself worked up for a fight that he seemed almost disappointed now having lost the chance to play an overdue prank on his rival, before turning back to the Potters. "Anyway, I really do have to leave for my personal reason which has nothing to do with Weasley. I would have to leave now even if he had not shown up. Thanks again for the meal and your cooking is surprisingly decent, Harry."

Harry thought the "surprisingly" was unnecessary but it was refreshing to see Draco acting more like his younger self tonight that he just silently nodded his appreciation of the compliment. Perhaps someday soon they could reach a balance in which Draco would no longer act awkwardly formal and more like his younger self around him but without the smugness and snarks that Harry would be able to be himself and to say whatever he wanted to say in front of him, the way one was supposed to act in company of a friend.

Ginny had already been on her way to the Floo to see their guest off by the time Harry remembered himself that he hurriedly followed as well. Harry believed Draco was going to reach for the Floo powder pot himself but Ginny had overtaken him to get to the pot first. "I won't hold you up if you really have to go, Draco, but I truly hope we can do this again another time because Harry and I enjoyed ourselves tonight and I think, if I may say so, you can use some company sometimes."

Draco's mouth parted a little in surprise then it curled up into a faint smile and his expression softened as he quietly offered a hand out to Ginny. Harry remembered Draco had admitted in front of the both of them in the kitchen at that time that he had had no friends and had felt jealous of him. Even if the novelty of making a friend had worn off after Christmas, Harry thought Draco looked genuinely appreciative of Ginny's friendship when she gladly took his hand to shake it.

"Thank you, Ginny. I would like to visit again, if you two would have me. Or perhaps... you would be interested in joining me at the Manor some other time?" There was a bit of hope in his tone but Harry thought he had rarely seen Malfoy as least confident as he appeared now, except for his two years as a Death Eater. Instead of sounding full of himself and entitled, he sounded… humble and sincere.

However, even though Harry had eaten at the Manor's dining room mere months ago and he was well aware of the fact that the Manor looked so much different from how it had looked more than twenty years ago, he could feel himself instinctively wanted to cringe at the mention of the Manor but thankfully, he was able to resist the urge and had kept his face impassive instead. Luckily for him, Ginny, who had dropped off Albus at the Manor no less than five times in the past, replied with so much enthusiasm that he was confident Draco had not seen his much less excited reaction. "Sure, that would be lovely! Al told me you served buffet at the Manor whenever you have visitors."

"Yeah, that sounds... great." Harry said so even though he did not truly mean it. While he believed he could truly enjoy spending more time with Draco, he far preferred meeting his friend again at his cozy home than in the same house where Hermione had been tortured and Dobby had been killed, but he did not want to contradict Ginny and disappoint Draco. "Thanks for coming again, Draco."

Harry shook hands with Draco too before his guest finally entered the fireplace. He surprised them again by taking the initiative to say goodbye to Ron, especially considering their near-fight mere minutes ago. "I suppose I'll see you soon on the platform, Weasley."

"Hmm… right… B-bye, Malfoy."

Draco gave a parting nod to the both of them before disappearing from Harry's kitchen.

* * *

A/N: Forgive the sloppy writing here because about half of the chapter was written within the last two days. I have no beta and edit all my stories myself but I always post only after finishing a chapter for at least a week. I don't have that luxury here because I basically forced myself to get enough content out for a chapter because I have wanted so much to be able to post today despite having been struggling for a while.

Today is the anniversary of the story so I really want to get a chapter out despite the chapter being not ready yet. I still go back to my older chapters to edit them occasionally but the changes are usually barely noticeable. I would likely come back to make some bigger changes here because both the chapter and I are a bit of a mess right now.

Please comment because I'm feeling all stressed out, sleep-deprived, and a comment could cheer me up so much.

By the way, the short "A Good Day" I had first started last month has been completed. It wasn't as much a "break" as I had expected but I did enjoy focusing on Draco and Scorpius' relationship over there. It would mean so much to me if you can check it out.


	38. Late Night Drink

Ginny's face had completely transformed by the time she turned around to face Ron that Harry found himself feeling sorry for his friend despite knowing that he had it coming.

"What the hell were you thinking, Ron?" Ginny did not raise her voice when she got mad, but that did not mean she sounded any less intimidating.

"What?" Only Ron could appear clueless in this situation.

"Are you really that stupid?" She might not look like it but Harry knew she was fuming by now.

"I have no idea why you're so pissed off all of a sudden and I don't see why you have to insult me instead of telling me what's wrong." Harry shook his head, this was not going to end well.

Ginny took a breath before calmly listing, "Let me break it down for you: Your first mistake, to show up without letting us know beforehand. Your second mistake, to not leave immediately once you had realised that we had guest. Your third mistake, to make an idiot out of yourself and to act all rude in front of our guest. Your worst mistake, to try to provoke our guest to fight you over a trivial joke."

Ron seemed to realise he was in the wrong but he defensively replied, "It's not like I've never shown up like this before and you two didn't seem to have a problem with that before. And I did ask ponytail if he would mind me staying, he said it's okay himself. If he didn't mind, I don't see why you have to make such a big deal out of it. Also, in case you didn't notice, he was the one who had challenged me first." Maybe Harry should say something but he had learned long ago not to interfere when these two were fighting.

She pressed a hand on her forehead then shook her head before saying, "I can't believe I have to explain this at all. Of course we won't have too much a problem before with you showing up unannounced when we were _not_ entertaining a guest. Since we had a guest tonight, you should have known enough to just leave. Just because Draco was nice enough to actually say he was okay with you staying doesn't mean it's appropriate and not extremely rude of you to stay and that it didn't reflect badly on us as hosts. And if you really believe that to be a challenge, I-I don't even know what to say… Anyway, why did you have to show up randomly at all?"

"I told you, I just wanted to show you the Cannons poster… I'd just won the most awesome prize and I couldn't show it off to George because he always calls the Cannons losers so I came because I thought at least you two would show some appreciation and excitement for me even though you aren't fans. Sometimes it can be so difficult when your wife doesn't care about Quidditch and you can't share your passion with her, not that we have much time to talk these days… not that I'm complaining..."

Ginny sighed and seemed to soften a little bit. "I know it's difficult when Hermione is so busy all the times but it's no excuse for you to disrespect our privacy… Normally I could care less which team you support but not when your timing is so terrible and when you still don't seem to see how wrong you were. Harry, I need to get out of here, good luck talking to him." With that, she left the two best friends alone. All things considered, it had not gone as bad as Harry had expected.

* * *

Harry was sitting across from his best friend after he had cleared the table, the Potters and Draco had finished Draco's wine earlier so the two friends were each drinking a bottle of butterbeer now.

"Gin will forget about it in a day or so, don't worry about it."

"Of course I know, she's my sister too. Besides, I'm not worrying about it."

"Hmm...Right." He took a sip to consider his words before saying, "But she got a point, here we were trying hard to make a good impression to Draco then things immediately got so awkward the moment you showed up."

"Personally, I don't understand why you two even bothered when he had witnessed most if not all of your worst embarrassments and humiliations back then, in fact, I'm pretty sure he had delighted in witnessing those…" Harry had to suppress his urge to glare at his friend, "... but I'm sorry if I got a bit carried away. It's just that whenever I saw that ugly smirk on his face, I feel like he's mocking me."

Remembering the amused expression on Malfoy's face the whole time the former rivals had sat together earlier, Harry could understand why Ron would get pissed off even though he still thought his best friend had overreacted. "Hmm… I believe he might have found some of the things you said or did interesting or amusing, but I can guarantee that he's not mocking you."

"Maybe." Ron did not sound too convinced. He drank a large gulp then put down the empty bottle before staring at it for almost a minute. "Why did you invite him to dinner anyway? I understand why you organised the Easter gathering with Andromeda, Teddy and Sc… his son, but this seems much more personal than that."

 _Oh Merlin, here it comes_ … as much as Harry wanted to say it was his freedom to invite whoever to his home for dinner to delay this conversation about the gathering with Ron, he knew that it was inevitable the moment he had make Hermione invited Ron for him and he certainly did not want to risk displeasing his friend that he would end up backing out. "Hmm… there were a few reasons, I wanted to return his favour because he was very hospitable on Christmas day, Ginny wanted to know him better too now that I have become friends with him and… I suppose I was also worried that he'd feel uncomfortable in our home and would end up acting all formal and awkward in front of Andromeda and Teddy during the Easter gathering that I wanted to prepare him for the setting."

His friend nodded with an unreadable expression. "I guess it makes sense." Ron made to take another gulp only to remember he had finished the bottle. "You mind if I take another?" He asked even though he was already on his way to the kitchen.

Harry replied a bit unnecessarily, "Go ahead."

Ron took a short glance at his bottle and said, "I guess you don't need another yet." Harry looked down to see that he had barely drunk half of the bottle. His friend was back to his seat in a moment, where he immediately took another large gulp, at least it was just butterbeer instead of fire whisky.

"Harry?"

"Yes?" He felt quite certain he knew what Ron would ask next.

"Why did you have to invite me to your Easter gathering through Hermione instead of asking me yourself?" His best friend sounded uncertain, insecure and perhaps a bit hurt.

Ron did not wait for an answer before continuing. "We have known each other for thirty years, after everything we have been through, I thought we could tell each other everything… And you know what, mate, I'd have said yes too even if you have asked yourself."

Harry hated to displease anyone, let alone hurting his best friend, so he could only reply with the truth. "I didn't ask myself because I was worried… I remembered what you had said on Christmas day so I was afraid that you would say no if I have asked. On the other hand, there's no way you could say no to Hermione."

Ron looked confused, "What did I say on Christmas day?"

"Y-You couldn't see yourself becoming friends with Draco." He did not want to repeat it because he felt like Ron had been gradually warming up to Draco and this would remind him of his earlier position on the matter.

"Oh, that."

"Sorry if you're offended in any way but I truly didn't realise you'd felt this way, at the time I just wanted to maximise the chance for you to agree to come. I really want you to be there."

"For you or for the ponytail?" He asked a little bitterly.

Harry was quiet for a moment, not because he did not know what to say, but because he knew he had to word this accurately to show that he truly meant his words. "For me. I have been planning this gathering for quite a while and I really want to get this right but I need your support. As productive as I have been feeling for improving my relationship with Albus, I sometimes get scared that I'm unconsciously doing the same thing I had done to Albus before the disasters to James and Lily now, so your whole family's presence would be a great help for me. And I don't know if Hermione has told you… but Albus had been having nightmares since the incidents and I don't really know how I can help him… " He felt like he had been trying so hard yet achieving so little when it came to Albus' nightmares that he could not get himself to continue even though a part of him really wanted to share with Ron because he felt like his friend, who had roomed with him for years when his nightmares had been worst, would be able to understand.

Harry could immediately tell that Ron did not know from his opened mouth and worried expression. "She d-didn't tell me about Albus' nightmares… I'm really sorry, Harry."

Ron stood up with his bottle and walked around the table so he was now sitting next to him instead, before he awkwardly patted him on the shoulder. "I know how worked up and worried you got when Al got lost… It must be hard for you to see him like that when you used to have nightmares so often yourself… _Merlin_ , I don't really know what I should say… It had been disturbing enough back then to just hear your sleeptalk and scream all the times without having your nightmares myself… I can't imagine seeing Rose havi..." Realising he was doing a terrible job in comforting his friend, Ron awkward trailed off. Instead of feeling upset by Ron's counteractive attempt in comforting, Harry could not help giving a faint smile in response thinking about the fact that his best friend was even worse than him when he considered himself to be a pretty bad comforter. Somehow this seemed to be more effective in cheering him up than the kind of "right" responses Ginny and Hermione would give.

"Getting this right feels like one of the few things I know for sure that would help… This probably sounds a bit far-stretched but I feel like I can cheer Al up by cheering Scorpius up. I don't know if you have seen the way Al lighted up when he's around his best friend, but Scorpius is great at making Al smile and laugh and it's only natural for him to get even better at it when he feels more loved and supported himself. At first I had been planning this for Scorpius and Draco, then for Teddy and then for Andromeda too, but now I feel like I'm doing it for Al as well, I just want to do whatever I can to distract him from the… traumas and nightmares. Al seemed excited when I wrote to him about the gathering, so I definitely feel like I've been doing the right thing so far."

"Even though it sounds like the most roundabout way to cheer a person up I've ever heard, the crazy thing is I can actually see it working, or I guess it isn't crazy at all, it seems to make sense with those two… Do you think I can forget seeing them hugging each other for a whole minute on the platform? A whole minute! I don't believe I have hugged you for longer than five seconds, right? Hmm, maybe ten seconds tops, but no way as long as they hugged, hug. You're my best mate but I don't think I can bear hugging you for that long, no offense. It'd just be too awkward." Harry laughed out loud not only because Ron made it sounded like the boys hugged each other for a whole minute _regularly,_ but also because his friend had voiced the exact thing he had thought when Ginny had first suggested that the boys might love each other romantically, that he and Ron had been in no way as close to each other as Albus and Scorpius were.

"I don't see anything funny about this." Ron muttered.

"If you say so." It felt good for him to laugh now that the dinner as well as the worst part of this conversation with Ron was over that he let himself downed a large gulp of his butterbeer in silence, to think about nothing except for how delicious the creamy drink tasted.

Ron coughed once to catch his attention, "Hmm… Harry, you know why I'd have said yes to your invite even if you had asked yourself?"

"Why?" Harry had not realised this was something he wanted to know but now he was genuinely curious.

"Because I wouldn't want to miss out on seeing how this plays out." Harry would never say this in his face but Ron was certainly quite nosy at times.

"Also, I want to see... something for myself."

"See what?" He hated that Ron felt the need to suddenly act all secretive, he must have known Harry would want to know what this "something" was.

"To see if… if my Rose is really not interested in S… the ponytail's boy." Harry was feeling more and more convinced that Ron's worry was unnecessary, but he did not say anything as he did not want to be the one spreading rumours about his own son's sexuality, especially when their speculations could very well be proved false later. In any case, he could only hope that his friend would not do anything too embarrassing during the gathering.

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much for the lovely comments I've received from last chapter. I've made some minor changes there but I gotta admit it wasn't bad to begin with. I know that I've bitten off way more than I could chew with this story and it can be especially frustrating at times like this. I guess that's the main cons of publishing while I'm still writing a story that sometimes I can't focus on the bigger picture and it's hard to go back to make big changes. Of course I can't afford to finish writing everything before posting now so I can only try to keep things in perspectives the best I can while taking it one chapter at a time.

Thank you for your patience, I understand that it's not fun to follow a long on-going story but I do make the effort to update as regularly as I can. Please comment because comments are my biggest motivations ;)


	39. Transition

The next few weeks before the Easter break had been rather uneventful. Harry had maintained his owlpost correspondence with Draco and they had agreed that Draco should not tell Scorpius anything more about the gathering than what he had already known earlier about having the chance to meet Teddy soon, until his return at the start of the break. The news would be a surprise for the boy, which would be delivered when all of them gathered on the platform in person. He had, however, updated Albus on everything about the gathering, including the inclusion of the Granger-Weasleys and their intention to keep it a secret from Scorpius. He had told him that Hermione had already told Rose about it but had made sure that she would keep it a secret because if she were to hear about the gathering on the spot, they were afraid she would publicly refuse to come and thus ruining things for Scorpius.

Albus seemed a little skeptical about his uncle and Rose's presence at the gathering even though he agreed that Scorpius would love meeting Hermione, but he was not against it as he seemed to understand Harry's logic behind the decision. However, Albus seemed to be really looking forward to surprise his best friend. He predicted that this would be the happiest surprise Scorpius would ever have received in his school years but lamented the missed opportunity for this to be the most unexpected surprise as his friend had already been aware of the possibility of meeting Teddy soon. Nonetheless, Al seemed sure that this was going to be brilliant.

True to his words, Harry had continued to painstakingly avoid asking about the nightmares in all of his letters to Albus even though it had been all that had been on his mind at the time of his writing and not surprisingly, his son had not volunteered any news on that front himself. Asking about Albus' classes and his daily life no longer felt as safe as it had been, because once Harry had seen his son at his most vulnerable state after the nightmare, he could not unsee it that he feared to upset Al in any way, especially after he had learned parts of his nightmares. Since he had already pulled out his trump card of the gathering earlier, Harry had a hard time coming up with anything else to cheer the boy up or to distract him, anything he was able to mention seemed to pale in comparison to the gathering but he hoped that they could mean something nonetheless.

He had sent the newest catalogue from _Quality Quidditch Supplies_ to Al while suggesting a few bargain deals of great quality. He had told Al that the whole family or the two of them could go flying together over the Easter weekend depending on what Albus wanted so he could try his new broomstick out but made sure to assure Al that he should get a broomstick only if that was truly something he wanted, instead of something he would do just to humour his old man. Albus did not seem as enthusiastic as he had hoped about the broomstick but at least he did assert that it was something he truly wanted for himself. James would have been over the moon if he were going to get a new broomstick but of course, Al would not be Al if he could so easily be cheered up by such mundane things like a broomstick.

The other thing Harry mentioned which had appeared to be received more positively was the suggestion for Al to visit his best friend at the Malfoy's Manor in the Easter break or for the young Malfoy to visit the Potters' home in addition to the Easter gathering. Following the incidents, Albus' Christmas visit to the Manor as well as the boy's nightmares, not only did Harry believe that the Slytherin boys should spend more time together during the short breaks, he also could not even remember his own rationales for not allowing his son to visit his friend in the past few years at the first place.

While there were a few days of the actual holidays when Albus should always reserve for the family (not that the lonely Malfoys should not be invited to join them from now on), each of the two breaks were over two weeks long that even if the boys visited each other once or twice, Al would still have plenty of time left to spend with his family, in which Harry would have so much work himself that he could not afford much time for his children anyway despite wanting so much to spend the whole breaks with them. He would be too busy to drop Albus off at the Manor but Ginny could do that just fine or his fourteen-year-old boy could totally floo over himself. Of course he had consulted with Draco about this in one of his letters and believing that Harry had taken notes from his previous letters and had again been trying to help Scorpius, his friend had thanked him so earnestly that Harry had felt too embarrassed to confess that he had suggested it more for the benefits of his son than the young Malfoy, even though he had had no doubt that Scorpius would indeed be very pleased about this.

Although Harry had expected his son to respond well to the news, he could not have expected to receive this answer on the same day from Al.

 _"Thank you for letting Scorpius and I visit each other over the break, dad. I told him immediately and he's already started writing a list of some of his latest and favourite books that he's going to show me now that I've shown the tiniest bit of interest in reading. (It sounds crazy but I think the Malfoys have 15,000 books or so that according to Scorpius, it's absolutely necessary.) _

_By the way, I know what you're trying to do with all the updates about your gathering, the catalogue and now this news. I am looking forward to get my own broomstick and I do appreciate your efforts but just because there has been something bothering me lately doesn't mean you need to go out of your way to cheer me up. I prefer your letters to be more normal and natural, more like how they were before Christmas when you'd write and ask more about our everyday lives. Honestly, this is exactly the reason why I prefer to keep something to myself, to prevent you all from fussing over me._

 _You're not the only one who has gotten all worried about me now. Scorpius and I had always gone everywhere together but lately he has started following me to the bathroom! He has also been constantly looking sideways at me which made me kind of uncomfortable but I can't exactly tell him off because I know he's just feeling concerned and I don't want to hurt his feelings. It's nice to finally have some good news I could share with him to ease him up a bit. I really am doing okay. Thank you again, dad."_

Although Harry was glad that Albus seemed to be doing truly okay and he felt bad for smiling inappropriately at the thought of Scorpius dutifully following his son around everywhere trying to make sure that he would not have a breakdown behind his back, he was feeling frustrated by the letter at the same time. First he had been forbidden to ask about the nightmares, then he was discouraged from deliberately trying to cheer Al up, what was a father supposed to do now?

* * *

Harry's heart was filled with nervous excitement when he arrived on Platform 9¾ on a Tuesday in late March about half an hour early, with Ginny by his side, not unlike a similar occasion a little more than three months ago. Had it really been just three months? Welcoming Albus home at the start of the Christmas break felt like ages ago. Things had evolved in an unbelievable pace since the beginning of Al's fourth year. If someone had told him on the first of September that Voldemort's daughter would snare the Slytherin boys into a time-travelling plot which would kill another innocent Hogwarts student and would almost succeed in bringing the Dark Lord back to life, that he would go back in time to witness his own parents' deaths with his own eyes, that he would become good friends with Draco, that he would be able to repair his relationship with Al as a result of these terrible incidents, that he would witness his son suffering from nightmares not unlike those which had plagued him for the majority of his life, that he would come to admire and adore the young Scorpius Malfoy himself and that he would spend so much time and effort in organising this gathering with his family, the Malfoys, Teddy, Andromeda, as well as the Granger-Weasleys, all within the span of seven months, he would never have believed it. He could not believe that Easter break had finally arrived, the time had come to put his plans into action.

Today felt so similar to the start of Christmas break yet it was so different at the same time. As soon as Harry had crossed the barrier to get on the platform, he immediately noticed the very familiar white-blonde hair from afar. Unlike last time, he did not hesitate at all to walk straight towards Draco Malfoy, as Ginny give him an encouraging nod. Like last time, Malfoy had noticed his approach early on but unlike last time, he had turned towards them to give them a very faint but friendly smile, which would absolutely be mistaken as "an arrogant smirk" by Ron or some of his other brothers-in-law. As always, Draco was wearing a fancy dress suit yet this time it was in navy blue and black with an elegant white shirt underneath while he had his hair in a single braid with some delicate but fashionable design. Harry could not help stealing a quick look at his own suit, which was a bit wrinkled and had been worn frequently for the past five to ten years with a few small stains here and there which suddenly looked much more obvious than a minute earlier, and instinctively running his hand through his untamable hair, before turning back to face his friend as they reached his side.

Draco Malfoy was standing with perfect posture with his hands behind his back when he said, "Good afternoon, Potters."

Ginny cheerfully greeted back, "Good afternoon, Draco. How're you doing?" while Harry gave Draco a friendly nod.

"I'm fine, thank you." Draco's expression softened as he added, "I can't wait to have Scorpius back at home. Of course his education is very important but sometimes I wish he can spend more than three months a year at home."

"I'm sorry, Draco." Ginny responded sympathetically before asking, "The Manor must feel enormous without him there?"

His face clouded a little for a second, only to recover into a more neutral expression immediately after. "Yes, indeed. But I've gotten used to it. I've been putting things in order for the past week to prepare for Scorpius' return, it helped to make the wait more tolerable."

"It certainly would be nice for me to be able to see my kids all the times but I can't deny I'm quite glad at times that they're all in school for months on end. I've no doubt that Scorpius is an angel at home," she said with an affectionate smile as if she was talking about her own child, "but it can be such a nightmare to have our three kids together in one room…" Draco laughed at her joke, his laugh was a little reserved but it did not sound forced or fake to Harry, before he proceeded to talk about how he had been trying to redecorate some of the rooms of the Manor to make them more pleasant. Ginny listened attentively while giving him some suggestions here and there.

Harry was not too surprised that he could hardly get in a word in this conversation. Everyone who had known both Ginny and him seemed to prefer Ginny's company to his, which was no surprise as Ginny was charming, intelligent, witty, caring and basically the life of the party, and it appeared that Draco was no exception. Since their first dinner at his home, Draco had visited once again for dinner. Harry had been able to put off visiting his friend at the Malfoy Manor for now but he had a feeling he would have to give in eventually in the near future as their two families became closer and closer.

Without the worry of needing to tell some difficult news and the interruption of his tactless best friend, the second dinner had gone even better than the first. As Draco had always carried himself with a seriousness which often made Harry nervous, he rarely had been able to bring himself to talk too casually or joke with Draco but Ginny would just talk to Malfoy the same way she would talk with his brothers and miraculously, Draco had seemed okay about this. Harry had been very relieved that Ginny was getting along so well with Draco but he envied her ability to instantly make strangers warm up to her.

Being not fully occupied in the conversation, Harry noticed that a surprisingly large number of people around them were openly whispering about the strange sight of the former Death Eater chatting easily with the Potters and he immediately felt bad for Draco. It had been twenty years but it seemed like the wizarding world was no less ready to forget about the Malfoys' past than it had been all those years ago. Malfoy had proven himself to be a devoted husband, a loving father and in giving up his Time-Turner, assisting them in fighting and apprehending Delphi to save their sons, he had essentially saved the world. What more did he have to do to convince the world that he had changed. Draco, for his part, had appeared or had pretended to not notice any of these, which did not truly bring Harry any relief. He wondered if his friend had simply gotten too used to them that he just chose to tune it out and not think about it.

Witnessing people shamelessly gossiping about Draco right in front of him also made Harry uneasy as he remembered how much he had felt annoyed by the way so many eyes would follow him wherever he went, especially when he had appeared in any crowded location. Harry had never enjoyed the attention but compared to what Draco and Scorpius had to deal with in a daily basis, being thanked by a crying old lady or being asked to sign an autograph occasionally was hardly anything worth complaining about.

* * *

A/N: My busiest days are over so hopefully I'll have a bit more free time to write over the holiday. Lately, it feels much harder for me to come up with a title for a chapter, maybe it's proof that there isn't much of a standout theme in a number of my chapters. Sometimes I feel like I'm being very repetitive with some content, and perhaps half of the length of this story is Harry's thought. It seems to have become my style by now but I keep feel like I'm just too long-winded and should get on with the plot.

Thank you again for your lovely support, you're the reason I keep going. Please comment. Happy Easter =)


	40. Muggle flights and Sleepover

The way the people behaved around Draco really bothered Harry but if both Draco and Ginny were indeed too absorbed to notice them, he had no intention of calling their attention to it, especially because he could not know for sure that they were whispering about Malfoy. Instead, Harry waited impatiently until Ginny had finished talking about a game the past weekend between the Montrose Magpies and Holyhead Harpies which she had covered before awkwardly joining in their conversation by completely changing the subject because he had not been able to follow this Quidditch season.

"Yes, it's quite an interesting game… Hey, Draco, have you made any holiday plans with Scorpius?"

Draco blinked for a few times at his sudden change of subject before recovering himself, "Yes, I have. We will visit Diagon Alley tomorrow and I am certain Scorpius will pick out another hundred of books from Flourish and Blotts." Unexpectedly, he hesitated for a beat, started blushing before adding, "And I might have agreed to bring him to the Weasleys' shop for the first time."

Harry did not realise his jaw had dropped, "Wow, th-that's a surprise…"

There was no question in his mind by now that Draco would do absolutely anything for his son but he could not help admiring the geniusness of Ron sending his products to Scorpius at Christmas. He had yet to meet any young wizard who had been able to resist the products from the joke store. Well, Al might have lost interest in them or had at least pretended to have lost interest for a while but he had been absolutely fascinated by them at one point.

Ginny glared at his husband before turning towards Draco to give him a calming smile, "Draco, I'm taking my kids to the Diagon Alley tomorrow afternoon as well while Harry will be stuck at work yet again. Would you like me to bring both of our boys into the shop while you wait for Scorpius elsewhere?"

Draco's face lighted up that Harry fully expected him to accept her offer right away, but then he visually surpassed his excitement to consider for a moment, in which Harry wondered if he was debating whether Scorpius needed him to physically bring him to the shop himself, before replying politely, "That would be a great help to me. Thank you so much, Ginny. I'm sure he would prefer visiting the store with Albus without his dad tagging along anyway, as long as I have supplied him with enough money to buy as many products as he would want."

She opened her mouth looking ready to argue with Draco's consumption attitudes but then closed it again before slowly saying, "You're welcome."

Even though _Weasleys Wizard Wheezes_ was a family business, not only would Ginny never gift her children any of their products, she had also made it a rule that the products should never be in her sight in the Potter household. Their children could buy them out of their own pockets (one product at a time with many products on a list of forbidden items each employee of the shop had well memorised; unfortunately or fortunately, one owner could never remember the list considering he had sent a love potion of all products as a gift) but they would never dare to use them at home, and Merlin helped them if they ever got into troubles because of the products in school.

Letting a boy who was visiting the joke store for his very first time buy as many products as he wanted might sound like the worst parenting idea Ginny had ever heard, but even she, who had been ever careful when it came to parenting her own children, could not really imagine a few joke products succeeding in corrupting the precious Scorpius when an alternate universe ruled by Voldemort had failed to do so. If buying a few silly products could bring Scorpius, who had experienced more sadness and trauma than any innocent young boy deserved to experience in his entire life, some well-deserved happiness, then he should totally get everything he wanted.

Ginny might have kept her reaction to herself but there was now an awkwardness among them as it looked to Harry that Draco had sensed the brief alteration in her previously warm attitude. No one said anything for a moment. Ginny resumed her previous topic on Quidditch which Draco seemed glad to respond. Harry was only all too happy to notice Ron's ginger hair from a distance that he eagerly waved him over.

"G-Good afternoon, mate. I-I can't believe I made it… I thought I'd be late for sure." His best friend greeted him breathlessly after half-running towards them. Harry looked at his watch, the Hogwarts Express was due to arrive in nine minutes.

"Where's Hermione? I thought you two were coming together." Harry had taken the afternoon off but last he heard, his boss was going to take a few hours off to welcome her children home.

"She's running late… I'd been waiting for her at her office for a whole hour only for her to make me come on my own first at the last minute. I have the muggle phone so she could call me if she still isn't here by the time we leave… or she said I can send a… what-is-it… send her a t-text."

"I can help you with it if it comes to that." Hermione and Harry were among the ones in their family who utilised Muggle technology the most, which was not surprising at all considering their backgrounds and their close working relationship. A lot of time it was just so much more convenient to communicate instantly in a much less invasive way than the Floo or the Patronus. Both Ron and Ginny had access to Muggle phones but for some reason, they always had troubles using it and never could warm up to it. Harry believed James had obtained a number of Muggle devices behind Ginny's back and was actually the most proficient of them all when it came to Muggle technology but of course, he would not expose his son's secret to his wife, who believed the Muggle phones to be a source of corruption with the internet, all those games and weird apps.

Harry was looking at Ron when his friend suddenly accused, "What're you smirking at, Malfoy?"

Ginny jumped to Draco's defense immediately, "Ron, you're so rude. I've been talking with Draco for twenty minutes and he hasn't been smirking at all."

Draco turned towards Ginny to give her a small grateful smile and said, "It's okay, Ginny." He then turned to his former rival and said, "I was just surprised about how unfamiliar you are with Muggle technology considering the fact that you have married a Muggle-born, that's all." The way Draco pronounced the word Muggle-born was neutral and completely different from the way he had used to spit _Mudblood_ in his youth.

Ron muttered, "You're one to talk, as if you would know anything about Muggle technology."

Harry was surprised when he saw Draco blushed a little even though he continued to look Ron in his face, "As a matter of fact, I actually have been using the Muggle internet for a few years, even though my skill can't be compared to Scorpius'."

All three of them were absolutely incredulous but of course it was Ron who asked, "Who are you? Like I could believe Draco Malfoy would ever use _Muggle_ technology!"

Draco looked so embarrassed that Harry felt bad for him, "Well, when you want to travel incognito as far as most of the wizarding world is concerned, the Muggle internet and modes of transportation have actually been extremely helpful." Now Harry felt even worse for his new friend thinking about what had not been said but was perfectly understood, why the former Death Eater would prefer to not be recognised when he was in vacation even if it meant to use the technologies invented by Muggles, whom he had absolutely despised in his youth.

Now it was Ron's turn to look embarrassed and perhaps a bit guilty. It looked to Harry that he was struggling to say something or maybe to apologise when he looked at Draco with his mouth parted, but then he closed it after two seconds before turning slightly away to look attentively at the clock.

Ginny asked Draco a bit louder than necessarily, "So does it mean you have tried 'flying' on the Muggle plane, Draco? I tried it a few times but it was worst when my family went to Argentina to watch the Quidditch World Cup, it was absolutely horrendous. I felt like a creature caged inside that itty-bitty seat."

"I did try it but it wasn't too bad for me, but then I have never taken a flight longer than ten hours…" he stopped for a moment before adding awkwardly, "and we might have traveled first-class." The image of Draco Malfoy flying in a Muggle plane with a remote in his hand watching Muggle movies felt extremely alien in Harry's head. He wondered if Draco would wear his dress suits on a plane as well.

Ron was still pretending to look away but he instinctively said, "Of course." While Harry had admittedly felt tempted to roll his eyes hearing the cliche of the Malfoys flying first-class, Draco had not said it to brag and his tone had not been condescending at all. Harry gave Ron a warning look which he reacted by looking suitably embarrassed.

Draco ignored Ron's comment and continued to say, "Scorpius and I far prefer traveling on trains anyway. It feels much more familiar and Scorpius finds it relaxing taking in the scenery occasionally while reading and having a nice cup of tea."

"That sounds like him." Ginny just did not seem capable of not smiling whenever she heard Scorpius' name mentioned but it was something Harry could totally relate by now.

Coincidentally, Draco turned to Harry now and said, "Hmm… Harry, there's something Scorpius wants to ask you about." It was a statement rather than a question and Draco showed no intention of continuing without any prompting, which puzzled Harry along with the fact that Draco was telling him now instead of letting Scorpius do the asking when he would arrive within minutes.

"Oh? What's it? Or do I have to wait till he arrive to hear the question?"

"That's the thing, I am telling you… well, actually asking you now because I know Scorpius would not ask himself, so if this is not okay for you, and it's perfectly fine for you to say no... but if that's the case, I'd appreciate if you can pretend not having heard the question."

Harry wished Draco could just get on with it because it sounded like a very important question but he could tell Draco would not ask the question if he did not make the promise. "That's fine, I won't tell Scorpius if it's not okay for me… now, what's it?"

"Scorpius wants to invite Albus to sleepover at the Malfoy Manor."

"That's it?" Even though letting Al sleepover at the Malfoy Manor had been something he could never have imagined a year ago despite his son having visited the Manor in the day for about ten times, the question sounded so trivial now that it baffled Harry that Draco had to make such a fuss out of it. After everything the two families had been through this school year, there was simply no way Harry could give a different answer to the question. "Of course Al can sleepover at the Manor with his best friend."

Draco literally let out a breath in front of them. "Thank you, Harry. Scorpius will be absolutely thrilled. Just to be clear, is it okay for you if Albus sleepover during the Easter break or do we have to wait till the summer holiday?"

"It's fine for me either way… Hmm, I'm wondering, Draco, why wouldn't Scorpius ask me myself?" Harry hoped that Scorpius was not afraid of him but then his heart sunk as he thought perhaps Scorpius hated him for having separated them earlier. The worse thing was, if the young Malfoy really did hate him, he knew he totally deserved the hate. But then if this was truly the case, Scorpius would have to be the best actor in the world to appear all friendly and charming to him while secretly harbouring this hate.

Draco hesitated a moment before saying "Scorpius refused to ask because he was afraid you'd think him selfish and will thus dislike him."

Harry was absolutely shocked, "Selfish? How could I ever think that of him? I don't think it's even possible for me to dislike him." Draco gave him a meaningful look, Harry knew immediately that he was reminding him of the time when he had disliked Scorpius… for no fault of Scorpius'. He blushed then added, "I mean, I can't possibly dislike him now that I've gotten to know him much better."

Draco's face softened as he continued, "That's fair. Scorpius has been so grateful that you've been so nice to him over the past few months. It's already been a big improvement over the course of one year for you to let Albus visit over Christmas, then for him to visit again over the Easter break, he thought you would think that he's abusing your kindness if he asks Albus to sleepover."

When Harry had first visited the Burrow before his second year, his best friend's small but cozy home was a paradise compared with 4 Privet Drive. It had been a lot of fun for him to do anything with Ron, his brothers and Ginny there, even when he was helping out with chores. (Mrs Weasley never let him helped out much but that never stopped him from trying because he had been well aware of the fact that he had been one more mouth to feed for the struggling family.) Even so, it was undeniable that he had had the most fun at the Burrow during the night time. Snack-eating and talking would suddenly become the most exciting activities in the world when they were doing that at night in secret, trying not to giggle and wake up the other members of the house. The Burrow had a charming view in the day but it could not be compared to its magnificent night view of a clear, starry sky. Having grown up in the suburb in Surrey, it had amazed Harry to see how the stars looked so much brighter at the Burrow. Of course the Malfoy Manor could not have been more different from the Burrow but he had no doubt that Albus would be able to enjoy the visit in a completely different way if he stayed overnight.

Despite his own understandable aversion towards the Malfoy Manor, Harry had never objected to Albus visiting his friend there from the very beginning so he had believed that he had always been rather reasonable. But now when he thought about how he had never bothered to have a real conversation with Scorpius before this school year, his previous short holiday-visiting ban and how Scorpius would easily worry about displeasing him, perhaps he had not been as reasonable and welcoming as he should have been, even without the whole separation fiasco. The more he thought about the potential sleepover at the Malfoy Manor, the more he agreed that the boys had been missing out on the memorable experience. Even though the boys had slept in the same room every night in Hogwarts, Harry knew from experience that it was completely different from sleeping over at a best friend's own home.

Harry shook his head and said weakly, "I could never think that of Scorpius, it's a very reasonable request coming from a teenage boy, to want to share some fun time with his best friend outside of school. Besides, I bet a sleepover will do some good to both of our boys." He saw that Ginny was looking very pleased in his peripheral vision, Ron was standing off to one side that he could not see his reaction at all.

Draco gave him the most genuine smile he had ever given to anyone who was not Scorpius as far as Harry knew. "I thought so. I thought he was worrying too much for no good reason and had tried to convince him to give it a try but he said he will ask next year or so." Harry guessed he still had some work cut out for him if he wanted the young Malfoy to truly be comfortable around him, to apologise formally for the cruel and unfair separation for starter.

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A/N: Thank you all your support, especially to the anonymous guest who left the lovely comment on the last chapter. All comments mean so much to me, please comment =)


	41. Greeting Hugs

It was 4:27pm, the train was going to arrive in three minutes so they all turned towards the direction in which the incoming train would arrive while casually chit chatting about things they barely cared about. But as soon as they had turned, Harry caught a glimpse of a familiar deep purple flashing nearby, before he felt a pat on his shoulder.

Instead of greeting him the way a normal friend would, his other best friend once again took the opportunity to remind him how incompetent he was as the Head of the department. "Harry, you've gotten a few numbers wrong in the report you submitted to me this morning." the Minister for Magic deadpanned. Unlike her husband, she appeared perfectly composed even though she must have rushed here from the Ministry. Given she had come from the Ministry to King's Cross Station, two locations with so many people showing up every day, even the Minister for Magic was not allowed to simply apparate onto the platform.

"Oh…" He was trying frantically to recall the numbers he had gotten wrong and could come up with nothing. It was not really a surprise to him that there were mistakes as he had rushed through the last few pages in his quest to leave on time but he was feeling rather conflicted about this conversation. While he felt bad about adding to Hermione's troubles when she had already been so busy all the times, he could literally feel the blood rushing towards his face to be embarrassed in front of Draco, the way he had been many times in his youth, but this time by his best friend who should have known better than to publicly talk about his failures in his job.

A mischievous smile broke on her face. "Just kidding… you did make a few grammatical mistakes but you really should at least proofread your report once before turning it in." Harry looked suitably ashamed while he mumbled an apology like a schoolboy but he would have felt much more annoyed at his friend had she not been as overworked that he knew he should have tried harder to make things easier for her.

Ron had quickly reached her side before placing his arm a little possessively behind her back. "You're so cold, Hermione! Shouldn't you at least give your husband a hello kiss before talking about work yet again with Harry?" He sounded way over-the-top that Harry was struggling not to roll his eyes. Remarkably, Draco had kept his impassive expression while still fixing his gaze on the direction in which the train would be arriving soon.

"Why? I literally just saw you ten minutes ago. Are you jealous?" She teased him while giving him what looked to Harry as perhaps a flirting smile, it was not an easy thing to tell with her. Ron turned his cheek towards her for her to kiss with his eyes closed but she placed her hand softly on his face instead. He opened his eyes a bit disappointedly. After all these years, it still made Harry uncomfortable to see his best friends acting too intimate but he never made any comment because it would only encourage Ron to tease him everytime he kissed Ginny in his presence.

In any case, it was nice to see Hermione acting more playful once in a while. Harry's relationship with her had changed quite a bit over the past few years since she had become the Minister and his direct boss. Sure she had been understanding and supportive as always, but he had almost forgotten that it could be quite fun being around her, not that he could blame her given all her responsibilities and burdens.

After a moment, she turned around to say a quick hello to Ginny, before addressing Draco a little cautiously, he had turned a little sideway a moment earlier, which allowed him to see the train when it arrived but also be more aware of the interaction between the Potters and the Granger-Weasleys, "How are you, Draco?"

"I am fine... thank you, Granger." He had turned towards her before replying a little stiffly with a nod. Unlike with Ron, Harry had never imagined needing to worry about how Hermione would treat the Malfoys but seeing Draco greeted Hermione really reminded him of all the times Draco had called her by _that word_. Technically, he knew he should not have to feel worried because he knew for a fact that Draco had changed but he felt nervous nonetheless.

"Good … How's Scorpius?"

"He's doing great… By the way, I don't think I have thanked you for your Christmas present for Scorpius." Harry found himself relaxing, at least Draco did seem to be making an effort to be friendly.

"Oh, it's no problem. I haven't gotten a chance to thank Scorpius yet for the flowers myself, they're gorgeous! But I hope you don't mind me asking, is he experiencing any… discomfort or trauma following the incidents? I've been…" All of a sudden, they heard the first horn from a distance but no one turned to look at the train as it started pulling into the station. "... worried about him."

"He is truly doing great… it would be a lie to say that he had not suffered but well… let's just say the incidents have brought us closer." Hermione looked satisfied with his answer but Harry was a little surprised when Draco added. "I really appreciate your concern… hmm, it seems like he's now friendly with your daughter as well."

"Oh, they are friendly but I believe Rose sees him more as a competitor than a friend, I'd say he's the only competition she takes seriously in their year." Hermione obviously enjoyed the topic as she flashed Draco a knowing smile. Ron looked back and forth between the two of them. He seemed eager to interrupt but was not sure what to say.

"I'll take this as a compliment even though it has nothing to do with me. Scorpius is keen to learn everything that in a way, I have the easiest parenting job in the wor…" As they had been too engaged in this conversation, the two couples and Draco had been oblivious to the other people on the platform until now but Draco remaining words got drown out this moment as the train compartment doors opened with students excitedly rushing out to meet their families.

Harry saw it before Draco had even started turning towards the train but surprisingly, while James and Lily were getting out from the compartments at the front, which were a considerable distance away from them, a pale boy with white-blonde hair hopped off the train from the very last compartment excitedly. The boy was likely the first fourth-year to get off and he all but ignored his own trunk as he happily rushed forward to fling himself at his father, not caring that he was only hugging his father's back.

Harry could hear Ginny saying "Aw" next to him with her joined hands placed in front of her chin, not unlike when she had seen the most adorable puppies in Muggle London over the last weekend. Draco Malfoy looked bewildered, which was no small feat at all as he had such an extraordinarily calm demeanour these days, when he turned to greet his son, he was obviously surprised to receive his son so early with such an enthusiastic hug after years of prolonged and anxious wait on the platform.

"I've missed you so much, dad!" Scorpius' high-pitched voice had an infectious quality that all of them were smiling at his excitement, except Ron, who seemed to be struggling to maintain a neutral expression. The boy happily hugged Draco again now that the older Malfoy had turned to face him.

"I-I've missed you too, S-Scorpius." Harry could swear that Draco's voice was sounding a bit nasal and shaky even though it seemed that he was trying hard to appear as composed as possible. He could totally understand why Draco would be overwhelmed by this open display of affection having drifted so far apart from his son following Astoria's death and having almost lost the boy in the incidents. Merlin… he would have cried himself if Albus would greet him in a moment with such an excited hug. But considering all of Albus' troubles, he doubted that could happen in all the coming school years. Nonetheless, he was extremely happy for Draco knowing the hard journey they had taken to finally come together as father and son but he wished Albus could be as honest as Scorpius with his feelings someday.

Just as his thoughts had turned towards Albus, he noticed his youngest son had gotten off the train as well. While he looked nowhere as troubled and withdrawn as he had been in the early years, Albus did not look as happy and carefree as he had been at the start of Christmas either. In fact, he looked visually tired compared to all of his other schoolmates. At least Albus did give him a smile, albeit one that looked a little weak, as he slowly walked over to greet his family. By this time, James and Lily had reached them and were taking turns greeting each of their parents as well as their aunt and uncle. Rose had gone off after Albus but had of course reached Hermione and Ron, who were standing more further away from the train than himself, sooner.

Ginny had her arms open, waiting to hug Albus, when he finally reached them. Thankfully, he did not hesitate at all and went automatically into her arms as he greeted, "Hi, mum." Harry was being hugged by Lily while Scorpius, who had taken a moment to check that his best friend had arrived before turning back to his father, was happily talking to Draco, whose hand still lingered behind Scorpius' back after their affectionate hug.

Harry saw that Ginny had whispered something to Albus, to which he mumbled a few words he could not hear in response while holding her a bit tighter before finally breaking off from her.

As Albus turned to face him, Harry realised with disappointment that he had returned from feeling rather comfortable around his son, not having to worried about what to say, back to feeling unreasonably nervous around him, even though he had written more than ten letters to him since the end of Christmas break. Of course knowing what to write was different from being articulate in real life. He took a moment to look at his son, who looked like he had grown almost an inch taller but seemed slimer as well even though he had been thin to begin with. He looked healthy but the bags under his eyes were too noticable to Harry's liking. He wanted to act casual but seeing the dark circles, he became momentarily distracted by his concern about whether Albus had been sleeping well that he forgot to speak.

Albus looked like he was waiting for him to say or do something before saying anything himself that for at least fifteen seconds, the father and son stood awkwardly facing each other in silence, until the boy could not stand this any longer. "Hmm, hi dad."

Harry gave a cough, before saying, "How are you, Albus?"

"I'm good." He replied, not caring to reply any further. Harry thought Albus did not look good at all.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Ginny happily hugging Scorpius, who returned the hug every bit as affectionately. They looked so comfortable in each other's arms that it was hard to believe that this was only the second time the two of them had hugged. He sighed as he wondered how his wife could embrace another's child so effortlessly when he struggled so bad to hug his own son. Looking at Albus, who had started looking down to avoid making eye contact with him, he felt scared that all the lovely progress over the past few months had been just a dream or all pretense in Al's part that he desperately felt the need to do something to hold on to some proof that their relationship had truly improved.

He took a deep breath before slightly opening his arms and asked timidly, "May I?" He tried to keep his beating heart in check and reminded himself that the worst that could happen was Albus declining to hug him in public. He doubted his son would feel irritated enough to yell or want to burn something in his face again after everything that had happened this school year.

Albus seemed to blush a little as he shrugged and moved closer without opening his arms to let Harry hug him first. He cautiously wrapped his arms around the boy before Albus decided to hug him back too, albeit only with one arm. The hug only lasted for five seconds or so but it felt much longer and was every bit as awkward as the last hug the father and son had shared a few months ago on the same platform when both of them had tried to initiate the hug at the same time which had resulted in them hugging at an awkward angle. Surprising himself, Harry was the one who let go first instead of his son because he was constantly worrying about the way Albus would react to things, in this case, a hug which lasted for too long, that he would rather cut it short than risk irritating Al.

* * *

A/N: I know the chapter is a bit short but I really like the exchange between characters here myself, especially Draco with Hermione and Draco with Scorpius. I feel kinda bad about the setback in Harry and Albus' relationship but I see it as a continuous process with Albus withholding secrets while parenting was just something that had never come natural to Harry. Anyway, why am I always more tired and unmotivated after taking a holiday?


	42. Long-awaited Question

When he was facing his son again after breaking of from the hug, Harry said honestly, "I've been worried about you, son."

"I told you, dad." Albus sounded a little bit weary but not pissed off like he would be in second or third year. "I'm fine. Besides, Neville, Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey have been constantly trying to look out for us, to make sure that we're okay..." He muttered the last bit which Harry suspected was not meant for him to hear, "...especially me."

Hearing McGonagall's name reminded him of the fact that his former professor had to deal with the publicity disaster that was having a student died under her watch, which naturally would make her even more protective of the two boys despite them being part of the cause of Craig's death. Not for the first time, he could acutely feel his affection and appreciation for the headmistress grow, not unlike the time when she had stood up to Umbridge by promising to do everything she could to help him become an Auror and the time she had intercepted Amycus Carrow in the Ravenclaw common room before the Battle of Hogwarts.

"Good, I'm grateful for them." Seeing the look Albus gave him, he continued, "They don't have to go out of their ways to do this, Albus. They're doing this only because they're worried about you."

Al sighed. "I understand, dad… It's just that everyone seems worried about me these days. Even James comes to talk to me like every week at dinner lately, and..." Harry caught his son eyeing his best friend, who had let go of Ginny but was excitedly chatting with her, briefly with a tired expression he had never imagined Al would wear looking at Scorpius. He was grateful that his eldest son had been trying harder to be there for Al and that Scorpius seemed to have done his part in staying by Al's side the best he could but he felt bad for the young Malfoy that his son would feel so uncomfortable by the attention everyone had shown him that he would even feel unhappy with his best friend. Still, he could understand where his boy was coming from remembering the way everyone had seemed to be walking on eggshells around him on his fifth year following Sirius' death and Voldemort's return.

"I know how you feel, Albus… I've been through this before so I understand that it could be frustrating… Please don't take it personally because your professors, your friends," he gave Scorpius a brief look himself, "and your family are worried about you only because we all care about you a lot…" There was so much more Harry wanted to say to his son but could not get himself to say it right here and now that he just left out a breath before saying, "W-we, hmm, I love you so much, Albus."

His son sighed, "I know, dad... And It's not like I'm complaining about this but I'm not a trauma…" he trailed off awkwardly, Harry thought perhaps Al realised that some thoughts were better left unsaid.

Seeing that Albus seemed to have enough of this conversation, he decided to move on to something which could hopefully make Al feel better, "It's okay, we don't have to talk about this if you don't want to… Anyway, are you excited about getting your own broomstick tomorrow?"

This really did grab Albus' attention, but not in the way he had expected. "Tomorrow? I thought it's over the weekend… don't you have to work, dad?"

"Of course I do, but the plan's for your mum and the three of you to spend tomorrow afternoon at Diagon Alley together before I join you all after work so the two of us can pick out your broomstick together. I've mentioned this to you in a letter I sent out last week." Albus had to be the only wizard who could forget the day he was going to get his very first broomstick. On the other hand, Harry could see Scorpius, who was standing at the side, perking up at the mention of Albus getting his broomstick, that Al did not even get to respond.

"Oh, you're getting your own broomstick tomorrow, Albus? And you didn't tell me!" Scorpius obviously was bummed that Al would keep something as important as this from him but the disappointment seemed to be overshadowed by his excitement for his friend.

Albus shook his head a little but gave his best friend a smile, "Because apparently I've forgotten about this myself."

"I can't believe you could forget about getting a broomstick! But this is perfect! You can try it out when you visit at the Manor later in the break." Judging from the looks of the boys, anyone would have guessed that it was the enthusiastic Scorpius instead of the slightly amused Albus who was going to get his own broomstick the next day.

Albus nodded to his friend like he was looking at an overexcited puppy. "Sure, that sounds like a plan."

"And I'm going to Diagon Alley tomorrow too, so we can meet up and buy books and sweets together. I think I may try to get another pet tomorrow and dad even promised to let me visit Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes tomorrow!" Albus looked mildly surprised but Harry could see Ron's jaw dropped in his peripheral vision.

Ginny interrupted at this moment, "Albus, I've promised Draco that we will bring Scorpius to the shop so you can give your friend a personal tour if that's okay for you." Scorpius was looking at Ginny with starry eyes.

Al shrugged, "Sure I can do that, there are some lame stuf..." catching sight of the dangerous look his uncle was giving him at the moment and Scorpius' growing excitement, he backtracked, "I mean, there are many cool products as well that I'm sure you'll love it."

Scorpius could not contain his excitement any longer, he squealed in delight while holding his friend's hands, "Oh Albus, thank you so much! It'll be perfect with you there, I heard it's so chaotic there that I was afraid I'd get knocked down by a screaming Umbridge or something if I just go with my dad." Even though Al was shorter than Scorpius, he reached out a hand to mess up Scorpius' hair while giving him an affectionate smile, "Of course you wouldn't have been knocked down, you idiot."

Ron was not even trying to control his laughters that Hermione slapped him in his back. Harry caught sight of Ron trying to give Draco a smug smile after he had calmed down. Scorpius had seemed embarrassed by Ron's reaction but he had calmed down as well now that he was casually chatting with his friend. Harry could see James giving Scorpius a wave now that he was done talking with a girl from his year and the blonde boy nodding with a smile in response. At this moment, Hermione walked over to greet Scorpius.

"Hi, Scorpius." The Minister for Magic gave the boy her warmest smile.

"Oh hi, I mean good afternoon, Ms Granger, I mean, Ms Minister. I-It's such an honour to meet you, I've first read your translation of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ when I was three." Albus looked at his friend with an eyebrow raised, as if saying _Really?_

"You can call me Hermione, Scorpius. Nice to meet you too but that's a little bit embarrassing… I'd prefer you to just see me as Rose's mum or Albus' aunt, so I hope you can be comfortable around me like the way you're with Ginny. Besides, we have met with each other before... but of course this is a much more relaxing time and environment. Anyway, I just want to say a quick hello and to thank you for your lovely flowers. It's really sweet of you to have sent the flowers."

The boy gave her a bashful smile, "I'm so glad you liked them, but I should be thanking you for your present, it's such a great book. I love it so much that I've already read it thrice."

Harry could see Hermione looked genuinely happy that her present was appreciated, "You're welcome, Scorpius. I believe you're the first person I've met who actually love the book. I wondered if it would be too difficult for you but I'm glad I took my chance."

With a pat on his shoulder, Hermione went back to Ron and left the two boys. It was curious that Draco had been standing nearby the whole time since the hug, occasionally chatting casually with him, Ginny and even Hermione, or just contentedly looking at Scorpius while his son was chatting with others.

Considering that they should leave the station soon, Harry thought that it was about time for him to bring up the sleepover and of course the Easter gathering so he moved a bit closer to greet Scorpius, "Hi Scorpius."

"Hi Mr Potter… Oh Merlin, I didn't mean to interrupt so rudely just now while you were talking with Albus. I'm so sorry!" Scorpius looked all flushed and embarrassed that Harry could see a healthy pink on his cheek under his ivory skin.

"It's all good, Scorpius, don't worry about it." Harry patted the blonde-haired boy on his shoulder. "How're you doing?"

"School has been really good lately, Mr Potter, but I've been really looking forward to the break because I really missed spending time with my dad. Thank you _so much_ for letting Albus to visit." No one could have doubted Scorpius' sincerity, if only Albus could wear his heart on his sleeve like his best friend do.

Harry gave Scorpius a good natured smile, "You're welcome. Speaking of Albus' visit at the Malfoy Manor, would you like if Albus sleeps over this time instead of just staying for the day?" Albus' jaw dropped slightly, it was obvious that Scorpius had not even mentioned his desire of having a sleepover with him at all, which was a bit unexpected. However, what was more unexpected was Scorpius' reaction to his question.

Instead of screaming in excitement like Harry had expected, Scorpius looked absolutely horrified when he turned to his father, "You asked Har...I mean Mr Potter, dad? I told you I was going to ask another year…" Harry found it interesting that Scorpius would only call him by his name while not talking to him.

"Yes, I did, son, but the fact that Harry is asking you about it should prove to you that I did the right thing and you were being silly to worry about it." Draco was completely unfazed about Scorpius' overreaction.

"Yeah… but you couldn't have known. It only turned out okay now that he's fine about it… it'd have been bad if Harry were unhappy…" The boy trailed off and looked down in embarrassment as he realised he was openly talking about him in front of the Boy who Lived himself.

Draco surprised Harry when he did not take the cue and responded anyway, "Believe it or not, I actually understand _Potter_ better than you expected, Scorpius. He's far too noble to be upset about something like this." There was a bit of smugness in his voice that his former nemesis reminded Harry of his arrogant younger self for once in quite a while. He could feel his cheeks warming as he was not sure if he should take this as a compliment or not. It sounded so strange to his ears that Draco was describing him as _noble_. "Besides, I had him promised that he would pretend that I hadn't asked if he did not agree to it."

"That's not the point, dad…" Scorpius mumbled before turning back to Harry. "Thank you so much for giving your permission, Mr Potter. It's very kind of you for agreeing to let Albus sleeping over at the Manor. I'm terribly sorry that I've just appeared very rude again." Harry was suddenly reminded that Scorpius was a pureblood hearing how posh and formal he sounded, it was such an easy thing to forget with the bubbly boy.

"It's really no problem at all, Scorpius, especially because I think a sleepover would do Albus some good too. Hmm... I know I haven't been all welcoming to you from the start but you don't have to talk so formally around me." He could tell Albus was looking at him attentively from the side.

"Oh, I didn't do it intentionally, and you've always been nice even though we had barely talked before… well, except for that once... in the alternate universe… Mr Potter…" Harry thought Scorpius was giving him much more credit than he deserved that he wondered if the boy even knew how bad things had gone down from the adults' point of view. According to what he had learned from the boys, he had pretty much done the exact same thing to them as the Harry from the alternate universe had, to separate them in school, except it had actually been worse for him. Because Albus had been in Slytherin that whole time, he had gone to great length to force Professor McGonagall to place his Slytherin child in another class with students of other houses just so the boys would not have been able to have any contact with each other. Also, Albus had been forced to move into a different dormitory for the same reason. Then Draco had come over to duel him and put him in his place.

Remembering how much this boy had loved history, he wondered if he had forever shattered the image of the Boy who Lived in Scorpius' mind back then. At the time, he had believed that he had done it for Albus' safety but looking back after getting to know Scorpius, he knew Draco had been right all along and he felt so ashamed of how cruelly he had treated this sweet lonely boy, no, he had wronged both of these boys and so much of what he had done following Godric's Hollow was to make up to them. He wondered if the sweet Scorpius would still think the same about him and call him _nice_ if he had known just how nasty he had been to him before. Just thinking about it made him feel undeserving of the young Malfoy's respect, and this boy had indeed been the most well-mannered child who had always been polite and respectful towards everyone.

"I guess it's kind of like how it never feels right for me to call you Harry." Scorpius continued shyly, he appeared to notice nothing about the turmoil that had been going on in Harry's head. "But this is really amazing, I'm really looking forward to Albus' sleepover."

He was going to reply when Al coughed once loudly, "Hmm… Sorry to interrupt but I don't think anyone has asked me about a sleepover before."

"Oh Albus, I had wanted to invite you for a sleepover at the Malfoy Manor."

"I've gathered as much. I just didn't expect to be the last to know." Albus deadpanned.

"Well, I thought Mr Potter wouldn't be happy about it so I didn't tell you because it'd be disappointing to mention it only to not be able to do it, even though I have mentioned it to my dad, who apparently had asked Mr Potter without me knowing." Scorpius seemed nervous that he was rambling without looking at his friend much.

"Now who's keeping secret from me? And you were upset just a minute ago because I didn't tell you about getting a broomstick." Albus was giving Scorpius his poker face but Harry was sure Scorpius could never fall for _that_.

"Hmm… I-I wasn't mad at all, I was just teasing you. And i-it's completely different… I just t-thought that this may… may not be the best time to ask Mr Potter that I should wait for another year before mentioning it to you…" It appeared to Harry that Scorpius did fall for it and thought that he had upsetted his friend, which was kind of ridiculous considering his son was looking at his friend fondly while shaking his head.

"And I…" Albus wrapped an arm around Scorpius' shoulder while trying to suppress a laugh, "was teasing you as well. Of course I'm not mad at you!"

Scorpius took a very deep breath before saying, "Oh Albus, you really scared me!" The boy patted his chest a couple times to soothe his nerves. Albus burst out laughing then Scorpius started laughing a moment later as well, not caring that everyone from the three families was all staring at them now. Harry could see Rose, who had been talking with Ron, James and Hugo, rolling her eyes.

The two boys seemed to be having so much fun that Harry did not want to intrude but he and Draco had agreed after all to surprise Scorpius about the Easter gathering here right when everyone who would attend except for Teddy and Andromeda was here. He looked at Draco, who gave him a nod, before coughing loudly once, "Hmm," the two boys stopped laughing and Scorpius looked curiously towards him. He could tell that Al, on the other hand, had immediately comprehended what he was about to say.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, boys, but there's another thing I would like to ask Scorpius about." Harry was very nervous because this was something he had been working on for months. He knew that everyone was looking at him, Draco, Albus, Ron, Hermione and their kids, Ginny and his other kids, but he was only looking at the keen grey eyes of Scorpius Malfoy's as he tried to make his voice as clear as possible, "Scorpius, I'm having a gathering on the Sunday after Easter at my home. Ron's family will be joining us for the whole day while your relatives, Teddy and Andromeda, will join us for dinner. Draco has said that he doesn't have plans for the day, so…" Harry had never seen Scorpius' eyes as wide as they were now and the boy looked like he was holding his breath, he had to take a breath himself before continuing, "Would you like to meet your cousin, Scorpius?"

* * *

A/N: The separation of the boys is perhaps my least favorite part of Cursed Child because I hate seeing Harry in this light but it only makes sense that his action in this world had been even worse when Albus had been Slytherin all along.

I've never said it before but the return of the boys for Easter break is supposed to be the official beginning of the second part of this fic, I guess the only thing I can say is: please bear with me and my long-windedness, I've worked really hard to put out chapters as regularly as I can.

Thank you so much for your continuous support. Shout out to Cris46 for your lovely comment but unfortunately, I can't reply to guest comment.

PS: I love writing Scorpius because he's an angel.


	43. Sincere Thanks

For like five seconds there, it looked to Harry that Scorpius' eyes were about to pop out of his head while the boy was staring at him in silence.

Instead of answering Harry, the stunned boy turned towards his father and asked hesitantly, "R-Really?"

Draco pulled him into a tight hug before saying firmly into his ears with a thick voice, "Really." Harry could understand why Scorpius would feel the need to reach for his father because for a long time, all they had had been each other and Draco must be the only one who could really understand how lonely and alienated Scorpius had felt and how much the boy needed and yearned for more family. This father-son moment felt so intimate that Harry felt extremely uncomfortable and awkward standing there.

The Malfoys stayed like this for a whole minute in which Draco kept whispering something to Scorpius. At last they broke off from each other, Scorpius took out a handkerchief to wipe his eyes before turning back to Harry with red eyes. He inclined his head a little as he said, "Thank you so, so much, Mr Potter… I can't describe just _how much_ this means to me because for quite some time now it's been just my dad and me… Albus had told me so many great things about Teddy over the years that he felt…" he tilted his head a little like he was searching for the most accurate words, "more like a fantastical person or a concept to me than someone real, than _my_ cousin… I've always wanted to have more family even though my dad is the best dad in the world…"

The boy took a look at his best friend, who had reached out his arm and had been patting him in his back, before continuing, "I know Albus hadn't particularly enjoyed his big family gatherings but I've always wished that I could have siblings and cousins like him… This is a dream come true to me, truly, Mr Potter. No one has ever done something like this for me before so thank you so, so mu-much..."

The boy was crying again and Albus was quick to react, he pulled his best friend into an embrace and let Scorpius cried on his shoulder while he started rubbing a hand soothingly down Scorpius' back. Harry could see that both Ginny and Hermione's eyes looked shiny and for once, Ron was speechless as he looked uncomfortably at the blonde boy. Rose looked at her friends with an uncharacteristic sad smile on her face. She might have acted all cool around Scorpius usually, but that expression was evident enough to Harry that under her sometimes rather snarky remarks, his niece did care about her new friend.

As for Harry, again he was surprised by how much he could relate to the young Malfoy. Like Scorpius, he had had so little family of his own as a child that he had felt a bit jealous of Ron's loving family despite the Weasleys' lack of means. He might not have wanted to use the word _jealous_ because Molly Weasley had always treated him like her own son but deep down inside him, he had felt undeserving of Molly's love and attention, which was why he had felt so guilty when he had been the first to arrive at Andromeda's home following the Battle of the Seven Potters when the fate of the majority of the Weasleys had yet been unknown.

He could still vividly remember the moment after he and Ginny had exchanged their vows when he had looked into the eyes of his new wife, that dreamlike moment when he had realised that she had become part of _his_ family, a tiny family of two. Unlike most other brides and grooms, it had been he instead of she who had cried uncontrollably at his own wedding. Then there were the magical moments when James, Albus and Lily had first born into his world. Having the chance to meet a cousin might not have felt as monumental as he had felt back then, but surely it was more than the boy could have dreamed of for the most of his life. At moment like this, Harry could look past the bubbly persona and catch glimpses of the lonely and vulnerable boy Scorpius truly was, a fifteen-year-old who had lost his mother and who had been bullied by almost everyone in school for years.

It took another five minutes for Scorpius to completely calm down after this. For obvious reason, everyone just started taking turns to make things more light-hearted for him. Ginny was the first to come up to pull Scorpius into another loving hug, "You're going to love Teddy, dear. He's always been like another son to me."

Scorpius smilingly replied, "I can't wait."

"Oh Scorpius, you have to tell me what your favourite food is so Harry could cook it for you for the Easter gathering." Harry was amused by the thought that other women would be volunteering to cook themselves instead of offering their husbands' service but he did not mind at all because Ginny would not be Ginny if she had been good at cooking.

Scorpius looked absolutely terrified thinking about having _the_ Harry Potter cooked his favourite food for him. "I-I love eating everything… there is n-no need for Mr Potter to trouble himself for me… I mean, he has already done so much for me."

"Well, you can just tell me if you change your mind but I'm sure he'll _love_ cooking something for you. Harry is an excellent cook." she gave Harry a wink that he felt inclined to chime in.

"Hmm… Scorpius, it's really no trouble, cooking is a hobby of mine so I'd love to cook something for you."

"See." Ginny said smugly but Scorpius only laughed a little nervously. Then it was Hermione's turn.

"I'm really looking forward to the gathering and to getting to know you better, Scorpius. I'm quite sure we'll get along very well." In moment like this, one could easily tell how great a mother Hermione was despite being considered as one of the strongest career women by the majority of the wizarding world.

"Thank you _so much_ , Ms Mi- Ms Granger."

As Hermione had to go back to work after having a quick dinner with her family, Ron and Rose came over to bid him a quick farewell before the four of them would have to leave in hurry.

"I-I suppose I'll see you at the gathering, kid." It was so unnatural to see the usually thick-skinned Ron acting awkward in front of a teenager.

"Thank you, Mr Weasley. Good bye."

"Have a nice holiday, Br- Malfoy. Don't you dare slacking off completely though because the exams are coming up really soon. I want to have a fair competition with you." Harry had to suppress his urge to laugh out loud as he thought about how potent a mix Hermione's love for school and Ron's stubbornness was, he felt bad for Scorpius because he honestly would not mind Albus relaxing for the entire Easter break at all, but he guessed Scorpius was so like Hermione that he truly did enjoy studying as he remembered how his best friend had been extremely disappointed by the cancellation of their final exams in their second year.

Scorpius only laughed, "Of course I'll study during the break, Rose. I'll see you soon." Ron dramatically mouthed " _of course?"_ to Harry _,_ before he waved a hasty goodbye to their family, while Draco was saying a very formal goodbye to Hermione.

Now that they were gone, Malfoy purposely moved a few steps to the side to be standing right next to Harry.

"Harry?" Draco might be calling his name but he was looking straight ahead towards his happy son, who was chatting excitedly with Lily of all people at the moment, instead of looking at him.

Lily had spent most of the past fifteen minutes chatting with Hugo but as soon as her favorite cousin had left, she had come up to Scorpius and surprisingly, she had reached for his hands without a hint of hesitation while exclaiming "Oh Scorpius, I'm so happy that you're visiting soon! It'll be an amazing gathering!"

"Yes, Draco?" His former nemesis stood straight and tall as always, had his hands behind him and was wearing a serious expression.

"Thank you," he had pronounced these two words a bit slowly in a way which put an extra weight to them, "so much for organising this for Scorpius. As Scorpius has said just now, no one has ever done anything like this for our family."

Harry was moved by Draco's gratitude but he did not need to search his heart to know that he had organised the gathering for not just Scorpius, but also Draco, Albus, Teddy, Andromeda and… himself. In a way, he was doing it for the selfish reason to atone for his earlier actions to Scorpius and Al and to comfort himself that he was doing _something_ for Al's nightmares that he believed Draco was giving him more credit than he deserved.

He was not going to openly contradict Malfoy because he felt like this would be too complicated to explain but hearing Draco's words, he could not help but feel that his friend had been placing too much focus on his son to the point that he had forgotten about himself and his life that he believed Harry had planned the gathering _completely_ for Scorpius.

 _Potter, how can I ever make you understand that Scorpius' happiness is perhaps the only thing that matters in my life now?_ Draco had said that back on Christmas day. Harry could understand how this had come to be considering the widower had been isolated from the wizarding world for so many years and he must have felt that he had failed Scorpius badly following Astoria's death. While Harry had been doing not much better as he had been focusing a disproportionate amount of attention on Albus in expense of his other children and his job to some extent, his life was still in relative balance with a full-time job, his wife, his other children and his friends. In Draco's case, Scorpius was the centre of Draco's universe that he might as well have been Draco's life itself. There was nothing particularly wrong with that but Harry was convinced that this was not the kind of life a wealthy, well-educated, forty-year-old wizard should live for the rest of his life, for the sake of Scorpius and Draco himself. He knew that the Malfoys could afford to not work at all for generations but he believed that Draco could have so much more to offer that it could do him some good to have an occupation. In any case, building relationships with distant relatives seemed like a good first step for someone as isolated as Draco.

"You're welcome but the gathering is meant for you as well, Draco. I do hope that you can get along well with _your_ relatives. It'll do both you and Scorpius, no, all of you including Teddy and Andromeda, some good if this goes well."

Draco's mouth parted a little in surprise, then he remembered himself. "You're right…I do hope to leave a good impression but it almost sounds too good to be true to gain more family now having lost almost everyone and having gotten used to being almost alone… Not that I don't want... relatives, but I'm not good at meeting new people and considering our last name, I try not to have too much expectation..." he sounded so solemn that Harry felt bad about how self-conscious Malfoy could be, which was such a sharp contrast comparing to how he had proudly introduced himself almost thirty years ago in his train compartment, but he supposed being sneered at for more than twenty years could do that to even the proudest person in the world.

"I can promise you that Teddy and Andromeda are among the most accepting and wonderful people I have ever known and they are really excited to meet _both_ of you."

Draco did not smile but his face softened a bit as he nodded, "Thank you, Pot- Harry." Harry could tell his friend seemed to need a moment to digest the conversation, so instead of awkwardly trying to move on to something else, he chose to silently look at their children instead.

"... and you'll get to see Teddy's starry night hair!" Lily said in delight.

"Oh, I thought the Christmas tree is his signature look?" Scorpius seemed so comfortable around his daughter that they must have spent quite some time together before, Albus was standing next to him looking at them affectionately.

"Sure it is but honestly, I find it boring after so many years and starry night hair is so much more gorgeous. While you're at it, you can check out his sunset look as well, and I bet you'll adore his animal looks."

The boy looked reluctant, "I'm not too sure about it… I don't know him at all that I don't wanna be bothering him too much the first time I meet him. I mean, I want him to like me, Lily."

Lily answered with one of her cheekiest grins, "Of course Teddy will love you! But anyway, it's no problem at all, I can ask him to do it for you. And you know what? Teddy always loves an excuse for him to change his look as frequently as possible. The adults and even Vic had gotten a bit fed up by it that he's banned from changing more than twelve looks a day. With you there, none of them would say anything even if he changes once a minute."

As much as he loved seeing Scorpius so comfortable around Lily, which meant that Albus must have been spending way more time with his sister at school these days than before as well, Harry simply could not resist stepping in, "Lily! Don't you think you can use Scorpius as an excuse to turn Teddy into a living kaleidoscope!"

His daughter whipped her ginger hair around to give him a puzzled yet innocent look and ask, "What's a kaleidoscope, daddy?" She was usually up to no good whenever she called him daddy instead of dad. "Anyway, it was only a joke…" she turned back to Scorpius and said, "I'm sorry but it looks like ten minutes a change is the best you can hope for, Scorpius."

He laughed, "That's already way more than what I could have expected, Lily."

Ginny, who had been talking with James at the side, came over to Draco now that James had gone to the toilet, "Hey Draco, what time should we meet on Diagon Alley tomorrow? Would you two like to hang out with all of us? Or would you prefer having Albus join you two for like an hour or two before we meet up again so I can bring all the kids to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes together? They may be in their fourth year but trust me when I say I'm not ready for my kids to go to the shop completely unsupervised yet." Ginny was usually a rather easy-going mother but knowing most of the secrets going on at the store, she was much stricter about everything whenever the "family business" was concerned.

Unlike his usual composed self, Draco seemed hesitant when he answered, "Thank you for the invite, but… I would prefer for Albus to join us… if it's really okay for you?" Perhaps he was worried about disappointing her by saying that he would rather not hang out with her whole family.

Ginny waved him off, "Don't worry about it, Draco, of course I understand why you would rather shop with just Scorpius and Albus. All three Potter kids can be a lot to deal with sometimes, especially James." Lily was still talking with Scorpius but Albus probably had felt a little bit left out that he had joined in the conversation too.

"Thank you, Ginny. Hmm… Scorpius has told me that he got to spend more time with your other children and they've been nice to him so I know they are great kids as well."

She shook her head, "You know, Draco, you really could be way too formal and polite sometimes… Anyway, what time would you arrive there tomorrow?"

* * *

They had been talking on the platform for so long that a train agent had come to inform them that they were closing the platform, so their group of weird-looking parents and children were standing awkwardly on a Muggle platform with old-fashioned trucks, overly formal (in Draco's case) outfit and owls in cages when a black-haired boy hugged his blonde-haired best friend goodbye.

Their hug was a little shorter this time, perhaps because both of them knew that they would be meeting each other again very soon. Al patted Scorpius on his head like one would do to a younger kid after they had separated while Scorpius laughed.

Seeing Albus with Scorpius, it was funny to Harry how even though his son had always looked young and short for his age, he could appear much older and more mature than his friend at times. He had always been very protective of Scorpius and had tried to look out for him like how he had stood up to Rose to stay with Scorpius on that very first day, how he had gotten into troubles time and time again in school before for defending Scorpius against his tormentors and how he had stayed by his friend's side after Astoria's death. Harry thought that while his son could be impulsive and a bit self-centred at times, he was actually very good at taking care of others, well, at least Scorpius, in his ways.

On the other hand, there was Scorpius, who was intelligent, level-headed and sensible that he could keep Al grounded even through the craziest of times during the incidents. He had also been helping Al after knowing about his friend's nightmares by forcing the words about his guilt and nightmares out of his mouth and dutifully following him around everywhere. However, Scorpius also possessed a childlike innocence that you just could not help wanting to protect him at times, especially when this tender-hearted boy was moved to tears because of his happiness and sadness, which had happened way more frequently than Harry had expected. Over the past four months, Harry had felt this way himself and had witnessed Draco, Ginny, Albus, Rose and Neville all acted or looked protective around Scorpius or when talking about Scorpius.

It was pretty amazing to think that the Slytherin boys had been simultaneously relying on and taking care of each other since they had first met four years ago. At their young ages, both of them were better at taking care of others than a lot of adults had learned in their entire life time. Seeing Albus patting his best friend on his back a last time before leaving the station, he knew his son had a good heart and he had grown into a pretty remarkable boy that he felt insanely proud of him.

* * *

A/N: I've been referring to the boys as fourteen-year-olds quite a few times but at some point, one or both of them would have turned fifteen. Since their birthdays are not mentioned in any canonical source, I've to make my own assumptions. It's March at this point of the fic and I thought it unlikely that both of the boys would have birthdays nearing the end of the spectrum that I decided to have Scorpius turned older first offscreen. Harry and Ginny would have gotten presents for Scorpius but it wasn't relevant to the main plot.

Shoutout to Cris46 again because it's a guest review. (I love all my signed reviewers so I always make sure to thank them in PM but this is the only way I can thank a guest reviewer)


	44. The Suggestion

It had been a family tradition for Harry to cook a special meal for the kids whenever they were back from Hogwarts so just like what he had done at the start of the Christmas holiday, Harry put extra care into preparing a special meal for his children.

At dinner, Albus had looked tired but he had chatted with James, helped spooning second helpings for Lily, emptied three full plates himself and had even volunteered to help cleaning up after the meal even though Ginny had dismissed it before quickly clearing everything up with magic herself instead. Albus might not be his most spirited self but he certainly behaved normally, no, Harry thought that his youngest son was on his best behaviours that if he had not have known, he would not have guessed that Albus had been this troubled lately.

* * *

About half an hour after Albus had retreated to his room, Harry found himself standing outside of his son's door, bracing himself for a conversation he had dreaded for weeks by taking a deep breath, before he knocked on the door.

"Come in." This felt so similar to the time he had knocked on this door right after Albus had returned from school during Christmas break despite he had known nothing about Al's nightmares then, which was not a bad sign at all, as that first meeting had actually gone rather well. It had been the first time Albus had accepted a hug from him in quite a long time.

He cautiously opened the door then automatically looked towards the other end of the room where Albus' desk was but all he could find there was Amber, Al's owl, which was staring at him as if she could understand all his secrets. It was curious that of all the owls his family had owned after Hedwig, it was this small black owl which reminded him the most of Hedwig. Instead of sitting at his desk like he usually did, the boy was lying comfortably on his bed, which stood right next to the door, with a book in his hands. Harry recalled Al mentioning in a letter that he had started getting into books recently, yet it was still a strange sight to see him with a book in person.

"Hey, dad." He did not appear to have any intention of closing his book that Harry took as not much an invitation for him to enter the room, so he stayed where he was.

Harry asked gently, "Albus, may I come in?"

He only stepped in when he saw Albus nodded after giving him a strange look. "Of course." Harry turned back and decided to close the door after a moment of hesitation. Al had certainly caught that as he had looked up and was looking intently at him when Harry turned to face him.

"There's something I want to talk to you, would you mind stop reading for a bit? It won't take long."

Albus stared at him for a second, then he let out a sigh, which was very soft but was there nonetheless, before putting his book face down on his bedside table. Then he sat up and moved his blanket aside so he was now sitting crossed legged on his own bed. He leaned in a little and asked a little warily, "So what do you want to talk about, dad?"

Albus seemed to have prepared himself for something serious, Harry did not want for him to get all worked up so he pulled out Albus' chair and sat down before he began, "I just want to see if you're really doing good, Albus."

"Oh," Al visually slackened his body, "I've told you and I've meant it. I really am doing fine, dad."

Harry wanted to tell his son that he could tell him absolutely anything anytime he wanted but he did not want to pressure Al this early in the conversation, so he said, "Okay… hmm, so have you gotten a chance to take a look at the broomstick catalogue I sent you? They're still doing promotion so we would be able to see those bargain deals for ourselves tomorrow."

"Yes, I did, they all looked good." If it had been James, he would be shouting about the specific model he wanted, reciting all its specifications and reasoning why he absolutely had to get a professional grade broomstick. He remembered how excited his eldest son had been at the start of the school year when he had gone choosing his new broomstick (A Firebolt, which had not been as expensive as it had once been but it was still a pretty luxurious model for a student to have) as a reward for becoming the captain of the house team. In contrast to James' excitement and even Lily's giddiness of getting Ginny's secondhand but well-maintained first professional broomstick, he could as well described Al's reaction as indifference.

"Were you attracted to any specific model in there? Do you have the catalogue here? Perhaps we can look at it together now? It'd be better for us to have more ideas about what you want before we go to the shop tomorrow."

"Hmm… it's buried in my truck somewhere…" he leaned forward as if he was reaching out to open his truck, which was standing at the end of his bed, but then he changed his mind. "Actually, I can read it tomorrow or spend a little time there myself or with Scorpius… or with mum beforehand, so you won't have to waste your time doing it with me now."

"It won't be a waste of time, Al… I mean, Albus…" In his mind, Albus would always be Al but he had gotten so good at calling him with his full name that his slip-ups had become pretty rare now that he was surprised by it himself.

"I-I really _want_ to pick it with you." He tried to keep his disappointment to a minimum in his tone. This had been the first time he had ever felt that he could share his interest with Al, that he had been looking forward to this since he had first known that Albus had conquered his fear in flying. He remembered he had once told Ginny that he wished Albus had been more like James or Lily. He knew better now and had realised that he would never change Albus for anything, he loved his son with all his heart the exact way he was now, but still things could become so much easier and more enjoyable for the both of them if they could share a mutual interest.

The boy's face softened as he sighed, "Sure we can do that now if you like…"

* * *

For the next five minutes, Harry glimpsed through the whole catalogue with Albus and it became obvious to him that Albus had not actually read it before.

"Albus, it's totally fine either way but did you look at the catalogue at all?" he tried to ask this as neutrally as possible.

"Of course I did," the answer came abruptly and defensively, but then he amended, "well sort of… Scorpius was flipping through it excitedly so I was just listening to him…"

"Oh, I thought Scorpius didn't know you're getting your broomstick?"

"He knew that I'll get a broomstick, just not that I'm going to get it so soon into the holiday." The young Malfoy had reacted so strongly that Harry had automatically assumed that he had not even known about Albus getting a broomstick at all. If only Albus could act _half_ as excited as his best friend about this.

"But there's one thing I know for sure… I don't want a Firebolt." Albus said decidedly.

Firebolt was one of the models which Harry had circled on the catalogue. While it truly was on sale, the discount was very small that it was still very expensive, especially for a student who had yet to express any desire to try out on the school team, but he had thought that it would be well worth the price if it could lift Albus' spirits. It also would not have been unfair as James had gotten two broomsticks of his own including the Firebolt and he was planning to get a new broomstick for Lily next year. Of course Harry had not believed that he could buy his son's happiness with money or that he could bribe his son, he had just thought that a Firebolt was something that even Al could not resist. Unfortunately, he had underestimated his son, who just could not help from making things difficult for him.

"Ar-are you sure? I mean, you'll have to stick with your broomstick for at least a good few years that it'd make sense for you to get the best model you can. Of course, Firebolt is far less prestigious than it had been but it's still the best within the budget… If it's about the money, you don't have to worry about it at all. We have spent much more on James for his two broomsticks, dozens of Quidditch gidgets that even your mum didn't know about and his magazine subscriptions that it's totally fair for us to spend a bit more for you for once…" Harry was normally a rather thrifty father even though he was pretty sure he could comfortably support his family with just his dad's fortune but in this instance, he desperately wanted to be able to spend this kind of money for his son.

"Yes I'm sure, I'm not James or even Lily. Sure it's cool to fly for fun sometimes… but I'm not interested in playing Quidditch so any good broomstick will suit me fine, a Nimbus, Cleansweep or even Comet. Lily wants to try out to be a Chaser next year so if you have to get a Firebolt, it'd be more worth it to get it for her. Just because you can afford the price, dad, doesn't mean that you should waste it on me."

Harry let out a sigh. He knew his son was being mature and considerate but he would rather him be selfish for once. "It wouldn't be a waste… but if you said so."

Albus was awkwardly playing with his fingers before he said, "Dad, I know it doesn't seem like it… but I really do appreciate you doing this for me." His son gave him a weak smile.

Harry looked at his son's green eyes for a moment before saying, "Anything for you, son… Anyway, we should get going with this," he moved to flip the catalogue to another page with one of his picks, "Maybe you'll like this one better..."

* * *

They spent the next fifteen minutes debating the most suitable broomstick to get, with Harry insisting to pick a higher-end one while Albus arguing to get one of the cheaper ones. At the end, they settled on the Nimbus 3000 series and the Cleansweep 100 series. While both lines of broomsticks could not hold a candle to Firebolt, they were still excellent broomsticks at more reasonable prices that Harry was confident that his son would end up loving his new treasure and he was extremely proud of himself when Albus said in the end, "I can't wait to look at them up close tomorrow."

"You'll surely be so happy with it tomorrow." It was time for him to move on to something more serious. "Hmm… Albus, there's something else I want to talk to you about."

The rare and beautiful grin on his son's face vanished at once and was replaced by a wary frown. Harry thought his son must really hated talking about his nightmares and feelings for him to act all guarded within seconds like this. "Yes?"

"Don't worry Albus, it's not what you expect... " Albus did not look convinced at all. "I've taken the last Monday of your Easter break off. It's the day between the Malfoys' visit and your return to school, I want to spend a whole day together with you."

"Oh…" His son did not look particularly happy but quite puzzled.

"We can go wherever you want to go and do whatever you want to do… just the two of us."

"Are you sure you don't want to spend it with James and Lily too? Sure they'll be disappointed…" Harry felt like Albus was bringing his siblings up to avoid the need to spend the day with him, which was disappointing but he was determined to get his way with Al.

"Maybe they'll be a little disappointed but strangely enough, it's you I think who will benefit the most from some alone time with me…" He looked at his son intently but Albus was looking down to avoid any eye contact with him.

"Hmm… I guess we can if you say so." Not the most enthusiastic response but Harry had nothing to complain about.

"It's a whole day so we can visit a few places or stay at one place the whole time, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, Muggle London, anywhere you want… or we can go flying together in the middle of nowhere." Harry tried to act as enthusiastically as he could.

Albus gave him a weak smile, "I suppose it could be fun…"

"It will be…" Here's the moment he had been dreading for weeks since he had first come up with the idea to spend the day with Albus. He had asked Ginny about it for more times than he could remember yet he could never feel prepared enough to ask the question out loud. He took a deep breath before he began, "I do have one suggestion of where we should go, Albus." The boy looked at him attentively.

"We absolutely don't have to go if you don't want to… and if we go, we could spend just a minute or an hour there depending on what you want or how you feel…" He could tell Albus was as impatient to know where he was talking about as he was scared about suggesting it. "I think... just maybe we should go to… G-Godric's Hollow to-together."

His son's face paled like a ghost as he asked with a hoarse and shaky voice, "B-but why?"

He leaned forward quite a bit so he was looking straight into Albus' eyes, "Because the Godric's Hollow today is about as different from the Godric's Hollow from forty years ago as possible. I, no, your mum agreed with me about this as well, we believe that if you could just see the place in a different light… perhaps it could help you overcome your…" A part of him wanted to trail off with the sentence to avoid mentioning the nightmares directly because he knew how little Albus wanted them to be addressed, but because this was indeed his intention, he tried not to think about his son's reactions and bravely carried on, "your nightmares and to help you move on from your scary memories from that night…"

Albus stared at him in shocked silence, at least he was not crying or yelling at him.

"Of course there's no guarantee that it'd be helpful for you… but both your mother and I think, believe that it's worth a shot on the off chance that it _does_ help. And if you can't stand the place at all, we can always apparate out of there immediately." The boy looked thoughtful with a frown for a whole minute that Harry felt like there was a real chance he would end up agreeing to the visit, but he was finding the prolonged silence unnerving that he felt the need to lighten the mood.

"Believe it or not, Go- the place has become a really popular tourist attraction and they even have a farmers' market there…" Harry laughed weakly. Albus looked up to stare at him, but now he seemed to be wondering if his father had lost his mind.

He let out a heavy sigh then tried again in a more serious tone, "Look, Albus, it's like what I've just said, you don't have to go at all if you don't want to go. I'd never force you in any way… But even though I didn't get to know them at all… my parents. I've been going to the place every year since I've first gone there during the war with your aunt Hermione… to talk to them, to look at their statues. Your mother, James and Lily have all visited the place with me before… I had never forced you to come with me before and there's no way I'll do that now. That said, I've always wanted for you to go there someday, to meet them… because they're your grandparents too." He could tell that he had broken down the thickest barrier there because his son's expression had changed to one of melancholy, he was biting his lips nervously looking the most uncomfortable he had been the whole day.

"Come to think of it, in a way you actually know them way better than me…" Considering the fact that Albus had not even been looking at him a moment earlier, Harry felt extremely alarmed to see his son literally turned away to keep his face out of his father's sight the moment he vaguely referred to Albus seeing his grandparents the day they had died that he added panicky, "I just meant it as an observation, Albus… I would never use this to influence you into going." Albus took his time to slowly turn back towards him but he remained in silence while pondering what his father had said, at least there was no visible tear anywhere on his face even though his eyes did look suspiciously shiny.

"Albus? Could you look at me for a second?" he asked gently, the boy looked up reluctantly.

"You don't have to make the decision tonight. We have plenty of time so you should take your time to think it over. It's totally okay if we don't go, all I ask of you is to really take the time to consider it even if you don't want to go right now."

He did not wait for his son's response before standing up, "You've had a long day, I'll leave you to your book then. Don't stay up too late, Albus."

He had just turned towards the door when the boy cried out a bit louder than necessary, "I'll go, dad!" Harry had turned back towards his son immediately as Albus repeated self-consciously without looking at him, "I'll go to the Godric's Hollow with you."

Harry sank back onto the chair he had been sitting on, looked straight into his son's eyes before taking both of Albus' hands into his, Al was looking very embarrassed at the moment. "Albus, I'll be really glad if you'll go there with me, but please ask yourself, son, are you agreeing to go now because of me? Or because of yourself?" Albus had screwed up his forehead to make a deep frown, it was obvious to Harry that his son did not even know the answer to the question.

"I do not want you to make your decision now, Albus. It doesn't matter to me whether your immediate answer to the question is yes or no… I want you to really think this through before making your decision." He was looking deeply into his son's eyes as if he could see the bottom of that rich green. The boy seemed overwhelmed by the close distance between them that he made to back away a little before he nodded.

"I do have one condition though, Albus." The boy gave him a weary look, he supposed it was a bit inconsiderate of him to have this conversation tonight as Albus was clearly exhausted that he wondered if the boy would be able to sleep well tonight.

"If you end up saying yes, promise me you won't hesitate to make us leave Godric's Hollow immediately if being there proves to be too much for you, we can always just chill in Diagon Alley for the whole day, or if you feel too overwhelmed, we can just go straight home and rest for the whole day. Of course you can also pick another place you want to go."

Albus' face had softened considerably as he nodded while giving him a timid smile, "I promise, dad." Harry returned a smile which he meant to be more comforting, " And thank you, dad."

He did not exactly know what his son was thanking him for but he realised it did not matter at all, all it mattered to him was that he was able to show his love towards the boy and it had been well-received, something which would have been considered a miracle mere eight months ago. For this reason, it gave him the strength to try to address the impossible to his son.

He just remembered he was still holding his son's hands, he gave them a squeeze instead of letting them go, "Albus, regarding your _problem_ … I know you don't want to talk about it and that's totally fine. But the thing is, I know I haven't been a good father to you, and I always have troubles finding the righ…"

"Dad… please don't say that" There was a deep frown on the boy's forehead and he looked surprisingly pained as if he was physically hurt by Harry's words.

"Don't say what?" He had unconsciously loosened Albus' hands due to the surprise of seeing his reaction, but he had to ask because he had no idea what Albus had meant.

"That you're a bad father, because you're not." Did he detect fierceness and protectiveness in his son's voice? It felt like a dream for the same person who had once said that he had wished that Harry Potter had not been his father to be defending Harry Potter as a father.

"Surely you of all people wouldn't actually think that? I mean, most of the time I feel and I'm clueless about being a father to you, and it showed."

"I-I'm very sorry that I've ever made you felt that way… but you're not a bad father." Despite being brief without elaboration, the apology felt very sincere. Also, the latter part was a statement without doubt and Albus had repeated it as if it had been fact, as if he was settling an argument and he would not take no as an answer. Harry was utterly bewildered, he did not know what was going on in his son's head but he knew enough not to repeat the same tired argument, so he just moved on.

"If you said so… but it's still true that I always have troubles finding the right words to say. I want so badly to be able to help you, Albus, but most of the time, I couldn't even be sure that I won't be saying anything that would upset you, let alone saying something that could actually be helpful to you in any way. So…" Albus had recovered from his upset but he was avoiding his eye contact again.

"If I happen to say anything that annoy or upset you, please do not hesitate to tell me so. I would rather you openly tell me that I've said something wrong again, that I'm making you uncomfortable, that you don't want to talk about something so I can learn from my mistakes, than for you to not let me know but secretly bottling up your annoyance and irritation that you end up harbouring hatred or doing something hurtful to yourself or to the people who love you."

Albus took his time to digest what he had said before he finally replied, "I understand, dad. I'll do as you said... thank you." Harry patted Albus on his shoulder before wordlessly pulling him into a hug, Albus returned the hug with one arm without saying anything. He finally stood to leave for real after letting go of his son. He instinctively looked at his watch the moment he stepped outside to realise that he had stayed in the room for almost an hour.

* * *

A/N: This chapter is long because it's one of those conversations which I don't want to break down into small parts. I'm not sure how I feel about writing Harry/Albus parts because on the one hand there're so many conversations between these two that I get worried that it could get boring and repetitive and both of them have a more complicated emotional arc that they could be really challenging to write, but when I get them right, it can be really satisfying. This conversation is build-up to a very important plot point of the fic and it should be quite easy to tell what it's. (if only I could know when I'll get to that, why did I have to make this such a marathon?)

Honestly, I'm feeling so much disappointment in my life right now that I don't really have much energy and motivation to write but you all deserve to get a new chapter fast because this fic had just passed **30000** **views**.

I'm perfectly aware that it's getting easier and easier to reach another 10000 views with more chapters but it's every bit as special to me and not something I'd take for granted. It's time for another group shoutout: Thank you Ronnie Jane, kahn1969, Blue Herons, snape zorro, HogwartsDreamer113, Scorpiusisthebest, wwe21, civilwarrose and Cris46. Thank you for all your continuous support and lovely reviews because I could never have done it without you.


	45. Broomstick Shopping

Work had rarely been enjoyable to Harry and lately, had not even been remotely satisfying as he had mostly been buried in endless paperwork every day, but it was even more difficult to concentrate when he knew that his whole family was enjoying a relaxing day out shopping at Diagon Alley. Ginny had made plans to meet up with the Malfoys and the two families, well, more like Albus with the Malfoys and Ginny with his other children, would spend a few hours together. He had promised to meet with his family at the Leaky Cauldron at six-thirty but thanked to an overrun meeting that had left him unable to work on the paperwork he had to turn in to the Wizengamot before the end of office hour, he was running late. He had originally intended to chill with his family for the whole evening after the broomstick shopping and dinner, but it looked like he would have to return to the office later to pull an all-nighter to finish another report in order to meet with his family before Quality Quidditch Supplies was closed and to spend time with them at all. Work had always been the busiest right before a holiday.

In moments like these, he was glad that he had been able to convince Ginny to use the Muggle phone because it was just way more convenient to text her a message instead of alerting the whole Diagon Alley that he had a message for his wife in the form of his Patronus. Ginny being Ginny, had always been understanding and would do her best to comfort their children when he unfortunately had to disappoint them in any way because of his obligations at work, so he was feeling grateful for her when he saw a simple "OK" as the reply to his apologetic message about his inevitable late arrival, without asking when he would arrive (he should have mentioned that himself but he did not know for sure).

* * *

It was seven-thirty by the time he rushed into the dark interior of Leaky Cauldron, expecting to be welcomed by the annoyed faces of his family. Quality Quidditch Supplies closed at eight o'clock that he was praying that Albus had indeed looked at the broomsticks in advance as he had suggested the night before. To his surprise, a merry party was seated at two separate tables in a corner. Ginny was chatting with Draco on one small table while his children and Scorpius were basically _playing_ on the other table. James and Lily were playing Gobstones while James' new Firebolt model was zooming around him at the moment. Albus was just looking at his friend with a fond smile while Scorpius was gleefully playing with two Pygmy Puffs, one pink and one purple, which were sitting comfortably on the table, with his finger while smoke was coming out of both of the Slytherin boys' ears. Harry looked closer to see that there was also a large bag of Pepper Imps on the table and everyone had an empty or near empty mug of Butterbeer in front of him or her.

Since he had rushed to get there, Harry was panting when he found his happy family with the Malfoys at the far end of the pub and started towards them. He smiled and nodded to his old classmate Hannah Longbottom when he passed by the bar table on his way to his family. Unexpectedly, Scorpius was the first among the group to notice his approach. He was laughing at something Albus was saying when he looked up and noticed Harry. A softer but every bit as genuine smile replaced the happy laugh on his face as he greeted, "Good evening, Mr Potter!"

"Good evening, Scorpius." Everyone else turned to him in reaction. Considering the fact that he had arrived an hour late, his family was in surprising good humour as they greeted him.

"Good evening, dad."

"Hi, dad."

"Hey, dad."

"Oh, nice of you to finally join us, dear."

He said to his family, "I'm so sorry I'm late, unfortunately, I'll have to return to the office after dinner. I'm really sorry. But I promise I'll be able to spend the whole Easter holiday with you all." They did not seem particularly surprised or disappointed by the news as they replied.

"That's okay, dad."

"We understand, dear."

"You know how you can make it up for us, dad? Increase our allowance and let me do the ordering at dinner tonight." His whole family loved almost all kinds of food but James was the one who particularly took pleasure in tasting luxurious delicacies that if he had his way, he would always order the most expensive food on offer in any restaurant.

"In your dreams, Jam-" Ginny was quick to shut her son down.

"I'll think about it…" Ginny gave him a warning look but he ignored it and gave a nervous laugh before turning to Draco and greeted, "Hello Draco."

He gave him a faint smile, "Good evening, Harry."

He looked between the Malfoys, "I thought you would be on your way by now. It's about time for dinner." He only asked because he felt truly confused remembering the Malfoys were only supposed to spend time with his family for about three hours and they had stayed for over four hours by now. He made sure to keep his tone casual that it would not be mistaken as unwelcoming.

Instead of Draco, it was Scorpius who answered, "Oh, that's because I wanted to keep Albus company and to say hi to you, Mr Potter."

Harry could not help smiling at Scorpius' words. "Well, thanks Scorpius. How's your day?"

"Brilliant!" The boy gave him his toothy smile before carefully bringing his Pygmy Puffs up for Harry to see, "I've bought these two Pygmy Puffs at Weasleys Wizard Wheezes, as well as some sweets, a toy bunny, which looked totally real with very soft fur like my toy rat and toy ferret, Extendable Ears, and a bunch of fireworks. Mr Ron Weasley was at the shop and he even said I'm his favourite Malfoy!" Scorpius had declared the last sentence so happily but Harry thought that Scorpius must have been Ron's favourite Malfoy all along… well, at least after Astoria's death leaving Draco and Scorpius as the only Malfoys left, that the comment really had meant absolutely nothing.

"They're so fluffy and adorable!" Scorpius was affectionately pressing his nose to theirs that Al was openly laughing at his best friend.

"I'm so glad you had a great time. Do they have names yet?" Curiously, Albus' goofy smile immediately disappeared as he shook his head.

Scorpius' cheeks had turned bright red as he awkwardly rambled on, "Well, I was going to call this one," he gestured to the purple one, "which's a girl, Bathilda, but Albus talked me out of it so I called her Lavender, because mum used to love lavender a lot and she's purple. I then jokingly called the boy here," he gestured to the pink one this time, "Snape… he gave me such a disgusted look but then he responded very well to… hmm… S-Severus and then I just couldn't get him to respond when I tried any other name… so I guess I have to call him S-Severus now… much to Albus' annoyance."

James was giving Albus his evil grin while Harry was biting his lips trying to contain his laughter. He fought it for five seconds before giving in and laughed.

James leaned forward to look at the pink Pygmy Puff attentively for a second before saying, "You know, Albus, Severus' frown looks identical to yours."

"James!"

"Dad, don't be such a hypocrite! You were laughing about the name just a moment ago."

Harry looked genuinely ashamed, "Sorry, Albus and Scorpius, I didn't mean to laugh."

Albus lifted his hand to wave it off, "That's okay, I get it's funny." His son's hand moment brought Harry's attention to a thin stack of books under his arm.

"I took it you got some books at Flourish and Blotts, Albus. That's nice." He turned to the Malfoys but could not see any book near them, which felt quite unbelievable. "Did you buy any book, Scorpius?"

"Oh yes! I got thirty books and dad had them delivered to the Manor directly."

Of course… Harry felt like an idiot to not have thought of this before.

"So you've all been hanging out here for… how long?"

It was his wife who answered. "We left Ron at five-forty to meet up with Draco here. He wanted to buy us all a Butterbeer while we were waiting. I wasn't going to accept but he was rather persistent about it."

"Please… you've done me an enormous favour today that it's the least I could do." Draco said rather solemnly. Harry still could not picture Draco Malfoy surrounded by all the chaos and craziness inside Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. He would bet that his friend would happily pay Ginny a thousand Galleons to avoid going into the Weasleys' store himself.

"If you said so… even though a Butterbeer had turned to a few for some of us. Anyway, the kids had taken turns back to shop a bit more while we've been having a heated debate regarding the newer players of Ballycastle Bats and Montrose Magpies that we kind of lost track of time. Speaking of time," Ginny's voice suddenly turned urgent, "Quality Quidditch Supplies closes in twenty-five minutes, Harry! You should leave already."

"Oh right," Harry turned to Albus and asked, "Are you ready, Albus?" The store was rather cramped that the plan was for just Harry and Albus to go pick the broomstick while the rest of the family went ahead to a very comfy but reasonably priced restaurant in Muggle London first.

Albus scrambled out of his seat but turned to give Scorpius a lingering look. "Thanks for staying, Scorpius. I'll see you next week. Happy Easter."

Scorpius gave his friend a warm smile while carefully trying but failing to "wave" a paw of Severus the Pygmy Puff. Harry thought that these little creatures somehow looked even fuller and fluffier than they had looked a few years ago when Lily had been in her Pygmy Puff phase that it looked like their paws were completely held in place by their fur which rendered them basically immobile. "Happy Easter, Albus. I can't wait to see your new broomstick."

Harry exchanged a quick farewell with Draco and Scorpius before leaving himself.

* * *

Quality Quidditch Supplies was nearly empty by the time Harry and Albus rushed into the store at seven forty. The store was mainly divided into two sides with one larger side of two long aisles, four rows of shelves devoted entirely to all the various brands of broomsticks and the other smaller side of one aisle displaying everything else, including Quidditch robes, Quidditch balls, armours, cleaning kits and so on, which were all neatly organised into two rows. A podium was set up in the middle of the broomstick section displaying a Firebolt Supreme very much like how the Firebolt had been displayed when it had first been released. Even though it had been almost seven years since the Firebolt Supreme had first come out, it was still the fastest model till this day. The Firebolt, of course, could be seen on the shelf right next to the Firebolt Supreme.

A large shelf faced the entrance directly, which displayed all the popular models of broomsticks made by the Nimbus Racing Broom Company, with a special spotlight shining on the latest Nimbus 3100. Its predecessors from the same series, Nimbus 3000(James' previous broomstick's model), 3001, 3050, could all be seen while some models in the 2000 series could still be seen like the Nimbus 2800, 2500, 2105, 2100 and even the Nimbus 2005 but sadly, the Nimbus 2000 could no longer be found there, even though it was supposedly still available from the Nimbus Company. With so many newer releases coming out from the company, it was no surprise that the Nimbus 2000 had lost all its popularity despite still being much better than a lot of the newest models by other companies like Cleansweep Broom Company and Comet Trading Company. Harry had heard rumours that the 2000 model would be completely discontinued soon in order to maximise the company's profit, which was a shame as Nimbus 2000 was still Harry's favourite model among all models from the company, but the move made sense coming from a prestigious racing broom company like Nimbus.

Harry knew the Cleansweep shelf was further down the store but he preferred to get a better broomstick for Albus so he automatically went towards the Nimbus shelf the moment he entered the store. Albus, however, had other ideas.

On their way to the store, Al had told him that he had not gone inside the store earlier in the day at all. However, the moment his son had arrived, he had ignored their agreements to get one of the latest Nimbus or Cleansweep models and had immediately gone towards the bargain corner of the store, which was at the furthest end of the store. Harry sighed as he reluctantly followed his son, intending to persuade him to focus on their agreed models given their lack of time.

Although there were usually some good quality "new" broomsticks at the bargain corner at unbelievable prices (Quality Quidditch Supplies never sold second-hand broomsticks so even a thirty-year-old Cleansweep Ten found there must be unused), the broomsticks there were usually very outdated, had a defect (usually in appearance, it must not affect its safety as required by the law) or were just so unpopular that it could not be sold even if it had been released just a few years ago and with a bigger than normal discount. With time, Harry would not be surprised if Al would be able to find a good broomstick from the corner but it had simply never been his intention to pick some pitiable broomstick gathered in dust or had been released thirty years ago for his son. If he had his way, he would most certainly spend half month salary to buy a Firebolt instead.

"Where are you going, Albus? We only have fifteen minutes left, buying a broomstick is kind of like buying a wand that you really need the time to hold the broomstick, to sit on it a little to really get a feel of it. We're in a hurry to begin with so we really should focus on the task at hand…"

Albus had arrived at the corner and was casually looking through what looked to be about two dozens of broomsticks which had all been carelessly dumped into the same huge bucket. From his distance, those broomsticks indeed looked neglected and pitiable. "I know we've agreed on the models but I was reading the catalogue today again and those models still seem too expensive for me."

"It's fine if you don't want one that expensive but we can still get something nice like a Nimbus 2500, you don't have to be looking through the cheapest stuff here…" His son had stopped picking on different broomsticks but was sliding his hand down one broomstick that he could not see. He was so focused on this particular broomstick that he seemed to not have heard his father's words at all.

"I know you're being nice and understanding, Albus, not wanting to waste my money but think of this as doing something for me, I want to be able to gift you a present you can fully appreciate for once." As much as he wanted to block out the memory, the scene with the blanket played out in his mind for the thousandth time.

His pleading words, however, had apparently did nothing to change his son's mind, as Albus had taken the rather light mahogany broomstick out of the bucket and had carefully placed it between his legs. Harry was thinking that this was nothing like what he had in mind when he had first planned to go broomstick shopping with Albus. He had imagined this to be a magical experience in which Albus would actually be as excited as Scorpius to pick the broomstick and they would get to share this father-son bonding moment when they decided on the perfect broomstick. He was feeling rather bummed when his son finally turned towards him holding the dull-coloured broomstick and gave him a small yet genuine smile and said firmly, "This one."

Harry knew he was defeated the instant he saw Al's smile as he turned to give the old broomstick a melancholic look, except…

The broomstick had a long tail of twigs and its handle was smooth but all its glossiness had somehow been lost in storage. Compared with the Nimbus 3000 series models, which had been Harry's second choice behind the Firebolt, with a longer handle and bulkier foot grip, this lighter broomstick was no doubt a better fit for the small and short Albus. The bright bargain tag on its handle indicated that it would only cost him a mere twenty Galleons. Harry, however, could not look away from the words on the handle, which looked more bronze than gold and read "Nimbus Two Thousand".

As the shock of seeing his old broomstick model had subsided, he realised he had unconsciously started smiling as he drunk in the sight of this old but pretty broomstick. In his heart he knew he would love for Albus to own his first broomstick model but it still felt wrong that he was just going to spend twenty Galleons for Al when he had spent about twenty times of the sum on his other son's _second_ broomstick, so he forced himself to stop smiling as he coughed once and asked, "I won't deny that Nimbus Two Thousand is still a very good broomstick, Albus, but are you absolutely sure about getting a thirty-year-old model? Would you be happy flying it when James, all your cousins, Scorpius and even Lily are flying broomsticks newer and faster than this? As good as this is in the inside, it had definitely been stuck in storage for years and it certainly showed… I absolutely love this model myself but I just don't want you to have any regret later on…"

It suddenly crossed his mind that this was such an un-Albus move considering his son had always hated being compared with him in any way. "Come to think of it, are you sure you truly want to get a model I've owned in the past, Al-"

His son had raised a hand to ask him to stop talking, "I totally understand your concerns, dad… but this is my decision and it's final. I won't regret it, I promise." There was nothing left for Harry to say, nor did he had time to say much more given the store was going to be closed in mere minutes, so he offered to take the broomstick from Al to pay for it at the cashier. He felt such a wave of nostalgia just from holding its handle, it was so unbelievable that it had almost been thirty years since he had last flown on his Nimbus Two Thousand himself.

"And dad?" Albus said timidly.

"Yes?"

Al averted his glance as he said, "I know I didn't at the time… but your present from the start of this school year... i-it is the present I appreciate the most in my entire lif..." Albus' words were cut short as he was unexpectedly embraced by his father. It was a rather clumsy hug given the fact that Harry was holding a long broomstick in one hand, but he felt so much love for his son that he wondered if his heart would burst open.

"Thank you, Albus." Harry realised his voice was hoarse with emotions.

His son was not looking at him when he let go. "I should be the one thanking you, dad…" Harry risked a pat on his son's head, which was something Albus had disliked since after first year, before turning to pay at the cashier. The shop owner had confirmed his suspicion that the broomstick had been stuck inside the warehouse for quite a few years but was otherwise as good as any new Nimbus Two Thousand. He also told Harry that this was the very last Nimbus Two Thousand the store would ever sold. Harry caught a glance of the clock as they turned to leave, it was two minutes to eight. This might be a very different broomstick shopping experience as the one he had dreamed about but holding the newly purchased yet very familiar broomstick and seeing a small smile on Albus' face, Harry realised that he would not have it any other way.

* * *

A/N: I guess I can't stay away for long even if I want to :P

Wizard money and broomsticks make little sense to me but I really tried to make this realistic. (Like it's acceptable for McGonagall to get a first year the newest broomstick model yet the new fastest model released two years later was said to be so expensive that Harry would have to empty his vault to get it) Firebolt Supreme is the only canon new model here and given the way it's named, I doubt there's any model in between.

James and Lily have gotten more screen time lately but it's not planned, sometimes characters simply develop a lives of their own that they demand to be written but I do like reminding people about their existence. Anyway, I love writing two parts of this chapter the most including the bit where Al talked about the blanket.

Last chapter is now the most-reviewed chapter of this fic, thank you so much for all your comments and support, your comments keep me writing despite my tiredness and frustration so please comment =) Shoutout to Christy4 and the anonymous guest who left a comment.

PS: Scorpius with Pygmy Puffs is life.


	46. Family Bonding

Harry quickly apparated back home with Albus to leave their new purchase so as not to show up in Muggle London with a long broomstick. It was eight thirty by the time they joined their family at the Muggle steakhouse.

Naturally, James was the most excited among their family to find out which broomstick his brother had gotten, "Do tell, Albus, did you get the Nimbus 3100? If you have it, I definitely have to give it a try myself because Fred flew it once and said it could give the Firebolt a run for its money, which sounded like nonsense to me."

Despite what he had said back in the store, Albus looked unsure and appeared unwilling to disclose his broomstick model, he opted to look at Harry instead. Ginny had certainly caught the look but she did not say anything. Harry hoped Al was not having second thought about the broomstick. At least if this was the case, he would definitely be willing to have the Nimbus 2000 for himself and to buy a newer model for Albus instead.

"What? Don't tell me you didn't get your broomstick? The store will be so much more crowded during the Easter holiday for you to pick your broomstick."

Finally, Albus seemed to have found his voice as he coughed once before saying very clearly, "I got a Nimbus 2000."

"2000? Are you sure you did not mean 3000? Didn't you two go to Quality Quidditch Supplies? I don't even know they still sell a broomstick this old."

"I'm sure. And yes, it's an unused broomstick, not a second-hand one." Al did not look as assured as he tried to sound but he looked straight at his brother.

"B-But it's like… what, a thirty-year-old model? Even Lily got a 2005 from mum." James looked absolutely incredulous hearing his brother had gotten an ancient broomstick (which was not a Firebolt) when he could have gotten the latest model.

"Yes, it came out thirty years ago. I found it at the bargain corner for twenty Galleons and I think it's perfect." The boy answered matter-of-factly. Harry had a feeling that the Albus from eight months ago would probably felt too embarrassed and self-conscious to have gotten a broomstick this old and would have asked James to shut up instead, he saw Ginny looking very pleased from the corner and he felt his heart warmed with pride in his son.

"That's a very good choice, Albus. I've always thought the 3000 series is overrated, its design wasn't much improved from the 2000 series design. And I don't know what they were thinking when they first designed that foot grips for 3050 but it's crazy they're still using them with the newest model. Besides, Harry still remembers his Nimbus 2000 so fondly that he might as well be talking about his first lover whenever he reminisces about his early Quidditch years. And you know what, your father does have good tastes…" she gave her husband a wink, which provoked some fake gagging from James.

"What? I meant good tastes in broomsticks." She casually added before taking a sip of her drink. As much as he loved her for openly supporting Albus' decision, he wished she had done it in a way that did not make him flushed like a tomato and lost his dignity as a father in front of his children.

Lily placed a hand on Albus', "I think it's really cool, Al! I read a feature on _Seeker Weekly_ a while ago on the best older broomsticks and Nimbus 2000 got one of the highest scores. Also, I've no idea why they would keep everything else in the series _black_ after Nimbus 2001, I really wish my 2005 is of natural wood colour sometimes. At least the 3000 series is brown in colour." Lily was the only one in the family who refused to call Albus with his full name and could still get away with it. Albus could feel really annoyed with his sister at times but deep down he seemed to always have a soft spot for her. Now he was giving Lily a small grateful smile. James seemed to have gotten the clue that he stopped talking about the broomstick.

* * *

The dinner passed by easily that before he knew it, it was time for Harry to leave and return to his depressing office. Harry wished more than anything to be able to just return home to hang out with his happy family, to help Albus polish his new broomstick instead of being stuck dealing with the intimidating pile of complaints, reports, court proceedings and all sort of other tedious paperwork in front of him, which he felt like must have been charmed with a refilling spell as it seemed to remain at the same height despite him working his hardest to tackle them one by one.

He was only able to nap for two hours in the office before the start of the last working day before Easter. He got a full day of work ahead of him and by four in the afternoon, he was on his third coffee. He had to keep reminding himself that he was putting in all the extra work just so he could have the four full days off for the Easter holiday. He had meant to give his family a Floo call at dinner but all he could manage was sending a short telephone message to Ginny. It was past three in the morning on Good Friday by the time he was able to get all the more urgent work done before the holiday and arrived home.

He was so exhausted that one moment he was taking off his wrinkled and smelly work clothes he had been wearing for two days straight, which he could have changed when he had returned home briefly with the broomstick but of course he had not remembered at the time, while looking longingly at the sleeping form of his wife, the next moment he was being woken up by a very amused Ginny tenderly caressing his bare chest at five-thirty in the morning.

"It's a wonderful surprise, love… but I'm getting too old to be seduced so early in the morning. And I'd hate for you to get a cold in the holiday." He looked down and literally could not remember the last time he had felt this embarrassed in front of his wife.

* * *

As hard as he tried, Harry felt wide awake and simply could not get back to sleep after being so forcefully woken up by his humiliation and quickly putting on his boxer shorts and pajamas that he gave up by six-thirty, took a quick shower and decided to get down to prepare a full breakfast for his family despite having worked for almost forty hours and slept for only four hours in total within the last forty-eight hours. It would not matter even if they woke up naturally at ten because magic could be very effective in keeping food fresh for hours after cooking.

Because it was still quite early, Harry only had the light on in the kitchen and kept the living room unlit. He had just laid out all the ingredients on the counters when he heard light footsteps down the staircase at six-fifty. Curiously, he looked expectantly to see who was joining him this early and was greeted by the sight of messy black hair which mirrored his own.

Albus was clearly taken aback to not only find the ground floor of the house occupied, but also to find his busy father cooking so early in the morning. "Oh, dad… Hmm, good morning."

"Good morning, Albus. You're up early." Harry was trying to give his son a good-natured smile but it kind of froze halfway and his expression turned a bit stiff as he realised his son could have been woken up by his nightmares again. Typically, his children could easily sleep past ten on a holiday if they were left to wake on their own.

"I was… I'm just going to drink some milk before going back to sleep." Albus was certainly the one in his family who liked drinking milk the most. He would always have some milk if he had troubles sleeping or if he woke up in the middle of the night since he had been a toddler.

Harry did not want to make his son uncomfortable but could not resist letting out a sigh. "I'll warm some up for you." He poured some out into a mug, warmed it up magically in seconds before carefully handing it to Albus, who had moved to the front of the counter. "There you go, son."

"Thanks, dad." Albus received the mug then immediately started drinking under the watchful eye of his father. His cheeks appeared to be turning red from either the heat of the milk or the self-consciousness of being watched that Harry quickly turned back to prepare breakfast.

Harry wanted to casually ask his son how he had been sleeping but he knew there was no way he could do it without coming across as worried that he chose to keep quiet. Albus quietly moved past him to go rinse the mug himself after he had finished drinking. Harry was feeling rather awkward and had resigned for Al to leave without getting to talk with him when his son had unexpectedly come over to his side.

"You weren't home yet when I went to sleep last night. When did you come home, dad?"

"Hmm… three-fifteen."

"So how long have you slept?"

"About two hours."

"So why are you cooking breakfast when everyone is sleeping, dad? Shouldn't you be be catching up with your slee… Wait a second, you didn't come home yesterday at all, did you get to sleep yesterday?"

Harry was starting to feel nervous like he was being interrogated. "Hmm… I was able to take a nap for a few hours…" Few hours was not really that much of an exaggeration compared to two hours in his opinions.

"Oh Merlin, you should go back to sleep, dad."

"I'm feeling fine, Albus. Now that I'm done with most of the work, I'll be able to spend the full four days with you all… so I'd say it's worth it. By the way, why are you sounding more like the father than the son here, Albus?" He had meant for the question to be a joke but he instantly regretted asking it after taking one look at his son.

Albus looked hurt as he looked down and mumbled, "Because I'm worried about you, dad… You seem to be working way too hard all the times... We could always have bread or something for breakfast so there's no reason for you to be sacrificing your sleep to cook breakfast for us after having barely slept for _two days_ , especially this early in the morning."

Albus looked like he was on the verge of crying that Harry was feeling extremely disturbed, the only times he had seen his son this affected because of him had been when he had said the unforgivable back then and after Godric's Hollow when he had broken down after witnessing his parents' death while Albus had stayed by his side all night looking extremely concerned but strangely determined. It truly did not make much sense to him that Albus would look this upset all because his forty-year-old father was not resting as much as he was supposed to.

Now that he thought about it, it might be a mistake for him to start cooking this early in the morning, but he was only doing so because he knew he had gotten past the threshold that he had stopped feeling sleepy as he should be. He knew he would pay for it later but at the moment, it would simply be a waste of time for him to lie awake on his bed not sleeping. Although Al had not said "I love you" to Harry for years, Harry's heart warmed and broke simultaneously seeing Albus' unexpectedly emotional reactions as his son's worry spoke volumes about how much he did care about him deep down but he also hated seeing Al so sad.

Harry sighed as he gently placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "I'm sorry for upsetting you, Albus, I was just trying to tell a joke. It means so much for me to see how concerned you'd feel for me. But you've no need to feel worried because I'm only cooking now as I couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard I tried that it'd be a better use of time cooking than trying but failing to sleep. I promise I'll try to take a nap later."

Albus visually relaxed but he still seemed uncertain, "Really?"

"Really, I'll probably end up sleeping for ten hours straight later in the day but I don't want to be wasting my precious holiday listening to the tick of the clock right now. And I'll try to take better care of myself because I don't want to be the kind of father who keeps my son worried." Harry gave his son a reassuring smile. "Anyway, you should go back to sleep yourself, son."

Albus bit his lip while looking down before confessing, "I just woke up from a… dream… a nightmare, so I don't really want to go back to sleep."

The smile on Harry's face was replaced by a concerned frown. "Do you have any sleeping draught left, Albus?" Remembering how little he had liked taking a draught himself, he amended, "I mean… do you want to take a sleeping draught? I can understand if you don't."

Al shook his head for a few seconds before saying, "Not really… I always feel weird after taking one even though I'd only taken half a dose, like I'd actually feel more tired after sleeping. I do have some left but I don't want to take it."

Harry could swear he felt his heart tightened a little seeing his son like this. Al was only fourteen but he had witnessed so much horror and experienced so much loneliness and sadness. "I'm so sorry, Albus… I-Is there _anything_ I could do for you at all?"

His son shook his head again, "I don't think anyone can really do anything… it's my problem…" Harry could literally pinpoint the light-bulb moment when his son suddenly came up with the idea before he looked right into his eyes looking significantly happier, "I know what we should do."

"What is it?"

"Let me see you cook, I've never done that before… perhaps I can help you a bit and even learn a little myself."

Because Harry could never have expected Albus looking this happy at the prospect of doing anything with him in the last few years, he gave his son an affectionate smile as he said, "Of course we can."

* * *

When Ginny arrived at the foot of the stair at seven-fifteen in the morning, she was quite surprised to see her husband patiently teaching Albus how to flip a pancake while her son was completely focused on his task leaning in inspecting the batter.

"You can do this as soon as the top has started to bubble. A pancake can get burned very easily so you've to flip it real quick. It can be quite tricky to flip it in the air so I'd recommend you using a spatula first. Too bad you're not supposed to use magic outside of Hogwarts, or you can actually use _Wingardium Leviosa_ to do the trick… "

Ginny could see his son nervously sliding the spatula onto the pan.

"There, there… slide it under all the way to the middle then quickly flip it over… There you go! This is perfect, Albus!" Harry looked like he had won the lottery while Albus was looking very pleased with himself.

"Now carefully lift it up to transfer it to the plate." Again Albus successfully completed the job. Harry happily clapped his hands.

 _Click._ Harry was so scared by the sudden camera sound that he jumped before turning around to find his wife taking photos of them cooking.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I forgot how loud this thing could be when it takes a photo. Please ignore me and carry on … I just found my boys too adorable that I had to take a picture of this. Or should I take a Muggle video…? George said he knew a way to turn Muggle phone photo into wizard photos though… Hmm." Ginny clumsily tried to change the setting of her phone.

Harry was feeling awkward as he turned back to Albus and said, "You can try to make the next one on your own, then I can show you how I flip it with _Wingardium Leviosa_ … Hmm, be careful that the second one could burn much easier because the pan has already been heated up."

Albus nodded then quietly get back to work. Despite the distraction that was his mum, he looked completely calm and concentrated as he made the first pancake of his own. His timing was perfect and movements precise that this one turned out even better than the last. Seeing the way his son work, Harry could tell that he was a fast learner if he really put his heart into something. When Al had first started in Hogwarts, he had struggled in Potions but now it was his best subject and seeing the way he cooked, Harry could easily imagine why.

For the next fifteen minutes, the father and son continued to make pancakes from their large bowl of batter, Harry was glad that Al did not object to his decision of making three types of pancakes, which of course had meant more work for the both of them. They did not talk much except of the occasional questions from Albus and some praises from Harry. At one point, Harry failed in trying to sound casual as he asked, "So have you given your broomstick a go, Albus?"

His son started a little before resuming his neutral expression, "Oh, not yet… I did clean it up and polish it a bit with James' cleaning kit though."

"Oh…" If it had been James, Lily or anyone else in the Potter-Weasley clan, the "new" broomstick would certainly had been flown for at least three hours on the first day alone, he supposed Al really was not that excited about his new broomstick.

"Albus wanted to wait till you're free to have his maiden flight with the Nimbus 2000." Ginny gave him a reassuring smile.

"Yea… I thought it's something you'd want to see yourself. You've been so excited about this, you spent all those time looking through the catalogue, discussing with me, pick it up with me at the store and pay for it, I think I owe you that after everything… It's not so much I want you to watch me fly but I thought… perhaps we could all fly for a bit together… just like old times." Harry pictured Al flying on his first broomstick model for the first time and realised that he was right, this was indeed something he would want to witness himself that he almost started feeling emotional thinking about it.

Ginny looked outside before saying cheerily, "The sky looks clear and the sun is out already, this looks like the perfect day to go flying."

"That's nice… Hmm, i-it's very thoughtful of you… Thank you, Albus…" He probably would have pulled his son into another impulsive hug had he not been interrupted by his other son, who had loudly walked down the stairs and had chosen to arrive at the living room at this very moment.

"I was woken up by the delicious smell of pancakes that my stomach started to grumble fiercely… this isn't fair! Who cook breakfast before eight on a _holiday_? I went to bed at two and was supposed to sleep in till _at least_ ten o'clock... Why are you all up so early by the way? And Albus, are you _cooking_?"

* * *

A/N: I legit changed the rating of the story in order to put a certain part in there, which I don't really mind because some themes of the stories have gotten heavier than K+ and different from when I first started anyway. That part was based on someone's real life experience after not sleeping for 48 hours thanks to a long trip, some interesting movies on a flight and a stubborn fight against jet lag.

Albus' emotional reaction may be a bit too much here but it'll make more sense later in the story.

Shoutout to JennH, your review has made me really happy. FYI, I normally update every 2-3 weeks these days so this is a relatively early update. There was a time when I was able to update almost weekly but I can't do that anymore. I usually try to let my readers know in advance if I can't update the fic within 4 weeks.

I'm sorry again for my ridiculous long-windedness. Here's an example of it, all of this chapter is translated from the following of my "outline": "H cooks breakfast, A woke up early" The alternate title of this chapter is "fillers"... well, I like this myself so I hope this is interesting to you all.


	47. The Chasers' Match

Harry had used to fly for fun with his children at the garden behind his house at least once a month except in winter up until the year Albus had started in Hogwarts. The ironic thing was, Albus had used to be rather proficient with a toy broomstick and had enjoyed flying a lot as a child that Harry could not have guessed that his son would ever be humiliated in his flying lesson but it had seemed like he had lost all confidence in flying after his very first class that he had not even bothered to learn the skill properly after failing the class in his first year. Harry had tried to get his family minus Lily to play a mini Quidditch game the summer after Albus' first year but the boy had stubbornly refused to leave the house, let alone mounting a broomstick that he had since completely stopped the family activity in order not to alienate the boy and had opted to let James and Lily fly with just Ginny (she had always been so much better in communicating with Albus than Harry that Al had not minded when it had been her flying with his siblings) instead.

Harry was feeling irrationally nervous as he joined his whole family at the garden with his Firebolt, which had miraculously been recovered after the war but had since never worked quite the same that his children were not allowed to use it. As expected, James had already taken off with his own Firebolt and was flying as fast as he was allowed to in their small garden by the time he came out. Lily had just taken off steadily as well while Ginny was patiently doing a last-minute safety check of the new broomstick with Al while his son was looking impatient to start flying for the first time since he had been a young child.

Harry walked over to Ginny and Albus and asked, "Is everything okay, Gin?"

"Yeah, we should be ready to go in a minute. The broomstick is actually in great conditions considering how long it had been kept unused in a dusty warehouse but I'm not going to take any risk when it's my boy using this."

Ginny might be very different from Molly in many ways but they were very similar in the sense that both of them were fiercely protective of their children. Harry found her even more attractive as usual looking at the way she concentrated on inspecting the broomstick that he could not help from leaning in to kiss her on her cheek, "You're the best, Gin."

"You're distracting me, dear." Despite the words she said, he noticed that her lips had curled up ever so slightly even though she was trying hard to appear professional and not to show her pleasure.

Unlike James, who would definitely be making gross kissing sound had he noticed the kiss, Albus simply rolled his eyes even though it was obvious that they were making him feel awkward.

Harry stepped closer to his son, meaning to help him relax by making some small talks but he had waited a few seconds too long and lost his chance as Ginny held the broomstick out to Al and said, "It's ready, Albus."

Al looked nervous as he slowly reached out to receive the broomstick. The boy had clearly polished it earlier as it was looking shinier and newer than when Harry had first seen it in the store. In fact, he would go as far to say the broomstick looked almost like his own Nimbus 2000 when he had first gotten it. Albus held the handle firmly in one hand while sliding his other hand down slowly as if it was a Hippogriff or a Thestral and he was trying to tame it or to communicate with it.

Ginny patted Albus on his shoulder reassuringly, "You're going to do great, dear." Albus looked at her for a second before nodding once in determination.

Harry could still remember his first flying lesson vividly, especially the satisfaction of having his broomstick gone straight up into his hand immediately before most of the class and to be able to catch Neville's Remembrall in midair without any previous training. However, he had almost never commanded his broomstick to go up to his hand since he had finished with his first year as it would be impractical to lay a broomstick on the ground first instead of mounting it directly that looking back, he had believed the exercise to be a bit pointless. Albus had never told him about his humiliation at his first flying lesson but Rose had accidentally mentioned how Al's broomstick had been the last to come up in their class, behind all the Muggle-borns who had not even laid a hand on a broomstick before, during that year's Christmas gathering. Although Rose had told it sympathetically instead of teasingly, it had been fortunate that Al had hidden away in a room at the Burrow that he had not heard it or he would have been so mad with his cousin. Remembering Albus' failure in his first class, Harry was caught off guard when Al gingerly placed the broomstick on the ground instead of mounting it directly.

Albus stood at the left side of the broom, closed his eyes then took a very deep breath. Harry could see his shoulders gone up before slowly coming back down. His eyes were still close in concentration when he stuck his right hand out and said "up" quietly but assuredly. The broomstick responded to his confidence and gone straight up the way Harry's broomstick had done in his first lesson. A faint smile formed on his face as the boy's hand closed up around the handle, he finally opened his eyes as he mounted the broom swiftly in a practiced movement.

He had obviously taken it slow up until this point but one moment, he finally lifted himself off the ground, the next moment he was flying up in the air effortlessly. At fourteen, Albus was still small for his age that he could still pass for a twelve-year-old, so watching the small boy with windblown jet-black hair flying on his new Nimbus 2000 almost felt like watching himself fly in his early school years.

He circled the garden a few times while following the flow of the wind to fly up and down instinctively before he tried doing some harder dives and sharp turns. Anyone who did not know about Albus' struggles in his previous years would have believed him to be a natural like Harry had been watching him fly now. Perhaps he was indeed a natural who had just happened to have been too affected by his nerves to realise his potentials.

Harry and Ginny were supposed to take off too as soon as Albus had done so but they had been so preoccupied with watching their son fly that they had completely forgotten about flying themselves.

"When are you two coming up? I want to get in some practice and I'd really appreciate some help." James annoyedly shouted while still circling the garden at high speed.

Ginny rolled her eyes as she yelled back, "Coming up, James. And do slow down a little or you're going to knock your siblings off their brooms by accident."

"We can take care of ourselves, mum!" Despite being the baby of the family, Lily did not like to be too protected by her parents.

Ginny turned towards Harry, meaning to urge him to go up together but had noticed something, "I see you got goosebumps too."

Harry looked at his arm and realised she was right. "H-He's wonderful…"

"Yes. He looks just like how you looked in your early years at the pitch, you looked so small compared to all the older players out there." She let out a satisfied sigh, "Ah… This brought back so many beautiful memories. How I wish I'd been there at your first match, to witness the historical moment when the youngest Quidditch player in a century joined his house team for his very first match… and how this Seeker caught the Snitch with his mouth, that was… interesting." She gave him a flirting look that Harry instinctively took a step towards her.

"Hey, you two, would you mind playing some Quidditch now instead of making out? Albus and Lily are good and all but I prefer to practice with some seasoned players here. Gryffindor is less than thirty points behind that we could very well win the cup this year."

Harry sighed wishing he had spent a bit more time in private with Ginny earlier. It was only ten in the morning and he had not gotten a chance to take a nap yet so he knew deep down that he should not be riding on a broom at all. Even so, he finally moved to mount his broomstick and take off from the ground while Ginny was doing the same in obvious impatience.

"I'm going to teach this boy some manners. He'll be defeated so bad he wouldn't want to call himself a Chaser, let alone a Captain!" Ginny had not looked as much like herself from her Quidditch days in years despite having retired for fifteen years.

* * *

James had already set up his practice goalposts in advance so Ginny challenged him to a match. As Lily was still young and just way too small and Albus had never played Quidditch before, Harry had to stand in to be a Keeper, which was no easy task for a sleep-deprived forty-year-old, while his other children had to content themselves to be spectators. Albus opened his mouth like he was about to protest when it had first been decided that their father would play Keeper but he seemed to decide against it reluctantly after a second.

Because there were two Chasers and only one Keeper, Ginny and James would try to score with the same set of hoops, only they had to circle the garden at least once within a speed limit after either of them had attempted to score before they could make another attempt and Harry was supposed to try hard to save every attempt. With a garden about one-tenth the size of a regular Quidditch pitch, it felt like they were taking turns to try for a goal at least once a minute, sometimes even twice or thrice, that he had stopped trying to catch the Quaffle after fifteen minutes, despite the practice goalposts being not as wide and as far apart as the standard goalposts. Of course, the surprisingly hot temperature and bright sunlight did not help at all. Harry had looked down occasionally to see that his daughter was watching the two Chasers excitedly while his other son was watching him with a frown the whole time.

Ginny was normally very observant but she had the tendency to forget about everything whenever Quidditch was concerned that she did not realise how tired he was feeling. Instead, it was Albus who suddenly flew up towards him after James had scored a goal and asked in concern, "You look so pale, dad! Are you okay?"

He was panting but he tried to keep his breaths as controlled as he could to avoid worrying the boy too much. "I-I'm f-fine, A-Albus… b-but I don't t-think I can f-finish the match. Gin, J-James, how about you two calling it a day and let me rest?"

Ginny quickly flew to him within seconds to place her hand on his forehead and to observe him closely, before letting out a relieved breath and said, "I think it's just the lack of sleep, dear. There's nothing wrong but you're right, you should get back to the ground and take some rest. I'm so sorry, dear… I should have realised." Albus had already taken the liberty to assist Harry back to the ground.

Ginny turned towards her opponent and said, "Sorry James, but it looks like we have to cut the match short."

To say he was disappointed would be an understatement. "Not to be insensitive, mum and dad, but it's Quidditch… you know you can't just stop a match like this, the game must go on. I can't lose without a fair fight." Ginny was leading 4-2 at the moment. "Albus, don't you want to try playing Quidditch? You can't say you're not interested in something without at least giving it a chance?"

Albus had just helped Harry settle down on a chair.

"Not really. I don't care about your match and I've to bring dad a cup of water and a wet towel now. Lily, come over here to make sure dad's okay." With that said, he quickly rushed back into the house, his sister obediently came over. Seeing that there was not much she could do to help, she started massaging Harry's shoulders and she was surprising good at this.

During the time it had taken Albus to get what he needed, Ginny had gotten back on the ground before casting a temperature-regulating spell for Harry. He had already felt noticeably better by the time the boy returned. Harry almost felt ready to go back up in the air within five minutes but of course he would not be allowed to do so. Noticing how upset James ,who had been fiercely throwing the Quaffle into the goals and picking it up only to do this over and over again this whole time, appeared, he had said, "I'm feeling much better, James… we can continue the game if you two make sure to go easy on me."

"You can't be serious, dad!" Albus gave him a very stern look.

"I agree with Albus, dear. I don't think you should go back up there… James will get over it."

"I'm really fine… How about I make sure to use a temperature-regulating spell up there?" He had not spent much time with James in ages that he really felt bad about how this family morning had been turning out.

"Forget it, dad…" James forcefully threw the Quaffle into one of the hoops again. "It's okay… I know you haven't gotten much sleep the past two days… I don't want to continue the match either if you're going back up like that." Despite what he was saying, it was obvious from his tone that he was feeling very bummed.

Albus bit his lip before saying hesitantly, "Now that dad's feeling much better and is resting on the ground… I s-suppose… I can give this a try…"

James was on his way to pick up the Quaffle again but he stopped short to turn towards his brother. "You can?"

"Yes… but I can't promise I can catch the ball at all… so don't get your hopes up… and don't be mad if I turn out to be rubbish up there…"

James sounded very sincere when he replied, "It's true that you're a bit small to play as a Keeper but I've seen you fly before, I know you'll be good, Albus."

* * *

Harry had not worn any gear when he had guarded the goals earlier nor had Ginny been bothered by it but now that it was Albus playing Keeper, Ginny would not even allow him to mount his broomstick before putting on the complete set of gears, which included an old helmet, gloves as well as shoulder and chest pads that she had summoned from the house.

No matter how little Harry wanted to admit this, he had certainly dreamed about Albus playing Quidditch on a Quidditch pitch before since the boy had been very young. Now although his garden was no pitch and he had never pictured Al playing as Keeper, it was still quite something to see Albus moving towards the goalposts, getting ready to play Quidditch in any form at all after having claimed that he had hated Quidditch for years.

To James' annoyance, Ginny was really taking her time to give Al a few basic tips regarding goal-guarding before practicing with him a few times. While she slowed it way down that no one could have any doubt regarding which of the three hoops she was aiming at, Albus truly did show potential when he skillfully steered the broomstick to catch the ball. Ginny gradually made her throws faster and and more powerful yet Al was still able to catch or block every single one of her dozen of throws. She gave him a wide and proud smile by the end and said, "You'll do great, dear."

Despite the practice hoops being smaller than the standard ones, seeing Albus guarding them still gave Harry the illusion that his youngest son was even smaller than he really was, but of course size was not the only thing that mattered when it came to guarding the hoops.

Having the match stopped abruptly earlier, James was particularly eager to catch up with his mother that he was noticeably more aggressive than earlier to the point that he was trying to score a goal within ten seconds after the match was resumed with the new Keeper, and Harry was not pleased to see how forceful he had thrown the ball.

It felt like everything was in slow motion as he saw the Quaffle flying towards the hoop. Albus was hothering in front of the top hoop earlier that he needed some reaction time to move towards the lower left hoop to block the ball. Although his hand seemed to have come in contact with the ball for the briefest moment there, he was too late to block the ball that James succeeded in scoring the goal. Luckily, Albus did not look to be in pain from the impact.

"James, your brother is new to this! Don't go all out immediately!" Ginny had immediately abandoned the match to rush towards Albus' side to see if he had been hurt. He looked dazed but otherwise okay.

"Sorry, bro. I swear I was just too excited to have the match resumed… By the way, we don't want you to get injured that if a throw looks too difficult for you, you're welcome to give up catching the ball." Normally, it was something both Harry and Ginny would never say to their team's Keeper but given the circumstances, both of them had to agree with the advice, Harry could only hope that James would not use this as a strategy to win by making all his attacks too forceful for Al to block.

Ginny was the next to attempt to score in the match and she had done it so half-heartedly that Albus was able to catch it effortlessly.

"Mum, don't you go _that_ easy on Albus! I want to defeat you fair and square."

She shrugged her shoulders as she said, "Fine." before she turned to her other son and gave him a thumb-up, "Good job, dear."

The match resumed again and Harry was relieved to find that James was actually more tired than he had let on having flown for twenty minutes at highest speed at the beginning and having vented his frustration with the Quaffle earlier when the match had been halted that he could not really be that aggressive for long, while Ginny seemed to be gaining confidence in Albus' ability that she was not going particularly easy on Albus.

It was just supposed to be a mini match between the mother and son that it went on for only fifteen minutes more but considering how skilled the Chasers were, how inexperienced Albus was and how disadvantageous his body type was for goalkeeping, he did way better than anyone could have expected.

He had completely mastered the control of his new broomstick that he looked like he had been using the Nimbus 2000 forever instead of for his very first time. Albus had gotten used to keeping himself close to the centre of the hoops most of the time instead of in front of any specific hoop that it would be easier for him to react quickly to reach any of the hoop and to constantly make small movements like moving in small circles and going back and forth a little to avoid staying still in order to keep a sense of rhythm. He was also particularly creative in the way he blocked the ball that in addition to his hands, feet and the two ends of his broomstick, he had also done so with his forehead, shoulders and elbows, which made up for his disadvantage in size despite making Harry feel extremely nervous.

Once he had gotten a hang of the basic, Albus was able to pick this up very quickly. Harry had gotten the impression that James had low expectation in Albus' abilities despite his words of encouragement at the beginning but five minutes in, he was taking it really seriously when he started to attempt scoring by faking moves. He had to give the boy credits because he had been doing this for years and he was indeed a very convincing faker but Al seemed to have a keen sense of observation that he had not fallen for it once. He almost did once but he was able to turn around at the last millisecond to steer the broomstick in the right direction. Although James did score the goal, it was due more to Al's inexperience than his lack of ability.

Harry and Lily might not be participating in the match themselves but Harry had been kept at the edge of his seat and Lily was constantly yelling the whole time, "Great job, Al!" "I can do this better than you, James!"

Out of the twenty-one attempts on goals combined by the two Chasers, Albus had been able to block fifteen of them, and more remarkably, he had not followed James' advice and had tried to block every single one of them.

At the end, Ginny won the match 7-5 but at least James had not gotten down without a full fight. "You still have much to learn, son, but you're not _too_ bad." Ginny said happily.

"I'll defeat you next time, mum..."

"We'll see." Ginny gave him a wink which would certainly earned Molly's disapproval if she had seen it.

It was obvious that everyone in the family was impressed by Albus' performance. Harry had immediately flown towards the boy to check if he had accidentally broken any bones in his brave attempts in guarding the goals. Ginny was noticeably less worried than him when she flew over after a brief hug with James and immediately wrapped an arm around Al's shoulder, "You're absolutely brilliant, son."

"Thanks, mum… I'm really fine, dad."

"Hey Albus, you're still not interested in joining the house team, right?" James tried to sound casual but Harry noticed a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"It's surprisingly more fun than I expected but I can't say I'm interested. The practice schedule really put me off plus I've my O.W.L.s next year." Harry believed Scorpius had rubbed off on Al as his son had never been the kind of student to care much about his grades, or it was Al's mere excuse to avoid playing Quidditch.

"Good, good… stay this way. The current Slytherin Keeper is all size and zero skill… This is you without any training, I can't imagine how much more dangerous you would become if you've been properly trained… I'd say you getting into the team would decrease our chance in winning the Cup."

Harry had first thought that this was James' roundabout way to compliment his brother but a look on his frown told him that the Quidditch Captain was being completely serious.

* * *

While Ginny and James had gone in to have an iced drink, Albus had opted to rest a bit sitting on the same chair Harry had been sitting on earlier while Lily was practicing with the Quaffle and the hoops right now. The boy had rarely exerted himself physically as much in his life that he was naturally rather tired after just under half an hour of Quidditch playing. Of course Harry had to take his boy's poor sleeping quality and earlier flying practice into consideration as well.

Harry had been holding Albus' new broomstick since his son had first touched down and since then, he had been debating whether to ask Al something.

"Hey, Albus."

"Yes?" The boy turned towards his father's direction but was avoiding his gaze and his shoulders were hunching a little, which might have to do with the fact that both Ginny and Harry had already told him about ten times that he had been absolutely brilliant up there. His wife had even gone as far to kiss her socially-awkward son on his cheek.

"W-Would you mind if I give this," Harry gave the Nimbus 2000 a wave, "a go? It's been so many years since I've flown on mine."

The boy relaxed and said, "Oh sure, go ahead. And honestly, I don't see why you have to ask for permission since you've paid for it."

"I may have bought it but it's your broom, Albus, of course I've to ask you before flying it."

"I guess you're right… But for the record, dad, I trust you with the broomstick so you can fly with it anytime you want." Harry was surprised to see how earnest his son looked.

"You may not trust me that much if you remember what happened to my Nimbus 2000." It was not like Harry was actually expecting himself to ruin the broomstick but wizards tend to be possessive with their broomsticks that he had never given this kind of permission to anyone, nor had any of his family and friends, that he thought he could influence Al into being more careful about giving full rein on his broomstick to anyone.

"It's a thunderstorm and you were surrounded by Dementors, the broomstick was hit by the Whomping Willow, it'd have been broken no matter who was riding the broom at the time. Besides, you're still using your Firebolt from all those years ago."

"You remember." Harry whispered more to himself than to Albus. His children had loved hearing their parents' Quidditch stories when they had been young but he had expected Al to have blocked out all those memories following his failures in his flying lessons.

The boy looked down and said. "Of course I do… I used to dream about playing Quidditch when I was much younger. It's nice to have heard your stories on the pitch so I could imagine being y..." Albus stopped abruptly and his expression clouded that Harry just wanted him to go back to looking relaxed like he had been moments ago.

"Anyway," He interrupted his boy's thinking with contrived eagerness, "thanks for giving your permission, Albus. You can rest a bit here while watching your old man fly."

Albus let out a weak laugh, "Is that really okay though, dad? I mean, you looked ready to faint up there during the game."

"I promise I truly am fine, Albus." He looked his son in the eye to show that he's telling the truth. The boy seemed to relax and gave him a thumb-up.

He placed Albus' broomstick between his legs, took a deep breath as he marvelled about how familiar the touch of the handle felt despite it being a different broomstick from the one he had had all those years ago. Although the specifications of two broomsticks of the same model were identical, there were usually enough subtle differences there for any good flier to tell the broomsticks apart. It might have been because the many years since he had last flown on his Nimbus 2000, but he could have sworn that Albus' broomstick felt identical to his own in every possible way that he could literally felt his goosebumps the moment he lifted himself off the ground.

He might be just circling his own small garden but for those ten minutes up there, he was eleven again, a skinny boy eagerly and excitedly flying his own broomstick for the very first time in an empty pitch before his very first Quidditch practice, before Professor Quirrell, before Tom Riddle, Dementors, the Prophecy and all those deaths and losses. It was a time when he had first tasted success and he had naively thought that a regular Hogwarts school life could have been possible for him in which all he had to worry about were his finals, Quidditch matches and O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. While the Firebolt was certainly the better broomstick objectively, flying this Nimbus 2000 warmed his heart in a way that the Firebolt would never be able to. He was reminded of how he had felt whenever he had returned to Hogwarts after a long summer holiday… he was coming home.

As Harry caught sight of Albus, who looked in awe as he watched his father flying on his broomstick, and Ginny, who came out of their house drinking her iced tea and gave him a wave, and passed by Lily in front of the hoops, he knew in his heart that even if he was given a chance to start everything over again as that fresh-faced eleven-year-old, he would have gone through with everything the exact same way as it had happened, to accept all the burdens and guilts he had had and still carried till this day, because he was the luckiest man who got to marry Ginny Weasley and to father the perfect children.

* * *

A/N: This is now the longest chapter I've written for this fic. I've considered saving the last bit with Harry's flying for the next chapter but didn't because it sounds like an ending and would feel out of place in the middle of a chapter.

Disclaimer: I've never been into sports so I'm out of my comfort zone writing about a match here but I tried.

Another chapter outline here: "H tried A broomstick, felt warm." We're all screwed because at this rate, it'll take me years if I'll be able to finish this at all. I honestly don't have any idea where this is all coming from.

I felt a bit bad for making Rose a gossiper but I need a way for Harry to know about Al's failure to appreciate his improvement and unfortunately, there's no way Al would tell anyone about this himself.

Please comment because all your feedback and support mean so much to me.


	48. Couple Talk

Harry shared a simple lunch, which he had cooked completely with magic to save time for once, with his family before his exhaustion finally set in that his eyelids felt as heavy as lead ten minutes after the meal. He passed out immediately after painstakingly dragging himself to bed. It was dark out by the time he woke up disorientedly to find Ginny chillingly reading a magazine at her side of the bed.

"What time is it, Gin?"

She casually turned a page before answering, "Almost six." He had been asleep for more than five hours.

"I should get up to cook." He was already cursing himself for really sleeping through the day and missing out on spending time with his family. He had mentioned the possibility to Albus earlier but had not truly meant to do this at all. However, he was shoved down by his wife when he tried to sit up. It was not a forceful shove but she seemed determined to be heard and understood.

"Don't worry about it, dear. The kids will take care of it." "Take care of it" turned out to be ordering Muggle food delivery but considering how rarely he got to eat with his family these days, they had been doing it often that it was more the norm than the exception these days given the fact that Ginny had never bothered to learn cooking herself. Her "cooking" consisted mainly of mixing salads, making sandwiches and pouring milk into cereals.

Ginny had placed her _Seeker Weekly_ on the bedside table before turning to face him. "Al told me you only had a 'nap' for a few hours yesterday. I didn't say anything in front of him but I bet 'a few hours' couldn't be longer than three hours." She searched his face for reactions. As one of a few people who seemed to be able to read his mind without legilimency, one look at him was enough to tell her that she had guessed right. "I didn't even know just how late you had arrived home this morning. You really should take better care of yourself, Harry. And you should have said no when we had made you played Keeper this morning."

Harry was feeling bad for worrying his family but the defense came automatically. "I didn't want to disa…"

"Disappoint us, especially the kids. I get it, I really do, Harry... It's one thing to try out Al's new broomstick and to fly a bit for fun but it's an entirely different thing to have played Quidditch like that… You know how competitive James and I could get even if it's just a mini match between us two and you could've fallen off your broomstick and we wouldn't have been able to catch you or slow down your fall while James and I were playing."

He certainly did not feel awake enough for this kind of conversation, but then perhaps he could never feel ready for this. Why was it that he always seemed to manage to do something wrong despite his best intentions?

He gently placed his hand on top of hers, "I'm sorry for worrying you, Gin." Her eyes softened when she looked back, "I really am."

"Of course you are." It was not quite a whisper but was said with quiet acceptance. "You always do." She seemed to say the latter sentence more to herself than to him.

"I promise I won't do this again." She looked completely unconvinced to him, which was fair enough considering his reckless track records. They might be talking about playing Quidditch during his spare times but he knew Ginny was thinking about all those times he had injured himself at work as well. Over the years, he had been hospitalised quite a few times that he could greet dozens of Healers at St. Mungo's by names. Remembering how Al had almost cried in the morning when he had believed that his father had sacrificed his sleep to cook them breakfast, he was truly feeling sick of upsetting his family, who meant more than his own life to him.

Noticing the melancholic look he was giving her, she lightened up and said, "I suppose I should at least give you the benefit of the doubt. I know how much you care… honestly, you're caring to a fault, Harry. But then I had known what I had signed up for even back when we had first gotten together in my fifth year."

Feeling not entirely sure whether his wife was trying to express her appreciation or dissatisfaction of him but noticing that she was acting noticeably less serious, he tried and failed to ask casually, "So… Albus and you were discussing about me?"

"What? Are you worried that he had told me some secrets that you don't want me to know?" She appeared to be joking but he shook his head solemnly, meaning that he had not hidden any secrets from her, sometimes she could get real mad at him without the slightest tightening of her smile that he had learned not to make assumptions when he was in doubts about her moods.

Noticing how nervous he appeared, she laughed before saying, "Relax, Harry, I'm only joking." Remembering what he had just asked, a sad smile replaced her laugh after a beat when she answered, "Albus came talk to me after you had fallen asleep, he's been worried about you."

"I've gathered as much." What a pair of father and son they were, Harry felt like he was constantly worried about Albus because of his nightmares but it appeared that Al had been worrying about him as well. He suddenly remembered that this was the case for the Malfoys as well, all Draco cared about was Scorpius' happiness but the young Malfoy had likewise been worried about how lonely his father had been without anyone to talk to since Astoria's death. It felt like fate that the Potters and the Malfoys were getting closer by the day and the more he had gotten to know them, the more similar the two pairs of father and son seemed to be.

"I guess I'm just a little surprised because he had seemed so… distant not so long ago. That and he isn't the kind of boy who likes to talk about his troubles or feelings." His relationship with Albus had undeniably improved since Halloween but he constantly felt the need to take initiative, to write letters or start conversations that it had been quite tiring for him. Even though Albus had been so sweet the past few days, he tried not to harbour too much hope that this had not been just a temporary change, that his son's personality had transformed for good, that he would no longer behave awkwardly and reluctantly around him.

Her expression clouded when she looked at him intently, "Al loves you, Harry." His mouth parted but he realised he did not really know what to say.

"He might have done some silly things just so you could see him for who he's and he may hate talking about anything personal … but he has _always_ loved you, dear." He could feel the watering of his eyes hearing her said this with so much conviction. Maybe there was a part of him who had always believed himself to be a failure of a father to Albus, that he could not deserve his love no matter how hard he tried, especially after saying those terrible words to him. Despite having told Al that he hoped that they could move past it at Cedric's grave on that sunny afternoon, deep down there had been a part of him who had not been able to move past the conversation himself. Maybe he had even believed that his son had stopped loving him way before that fateful night with the blanket.

"He may not always know how to express himself even after everything… but if there's one thing I can say for certain, he cares deeply about you. In fact, that disaster would not have happened at all had him not cared about you." She let out a deep sigh before continuing, "Anyway, he hates seeing you work yourself to death… James and Lily may want you to be here more but they have gotten so used to the way you work that they didn't even realise that you had been working the whole day yesterday when they had spent the whole day playing. Al, on the other hand, noticed and had been restless all evening, worrying about you."

She gently wiped a tear off his cheek with a finger, which he had not even realised had fallen, then she held his face in her hands and gazed into his eyes, before she leaned in to kiss him on his mouth, which he had instinctively returned. He suspected that she would have tasted the salt of his tears but she did not comment about it.

Ginny held him for minutes to let him cry silently. It could have been because of the constant guilt he felt for not being a good enough father, to Albus for having separated the boys and his nightmares and to his other children for often sidelining them in favours of his work and Albus, exhaustion from working too much, or the responsibility and stress he had felt all around all the times, but once he had started, it felt like the tears just would not stop falling. It took quite a while for him to calm down that by the time he was done, a large area of the back of Ginny's top was soaked with his tears.

* * *

After minutes which had felt more like hours for him, they were sitting contentedly on the bed while holding hands. His eyes were closed because it had felt emotionally draining but strangely relieving to cry his heart out. He knew that they should get down to join his family for dinner soon but he wanted to enjoy the temporary peace for now but unfortunately, he was interrupted by his wife.

"Do you remember telling me how you thought Draco should get a job or something to get a life?" He had always told Ginny everything, including some more controversial thoughts he would not feel comfortable expressing in front of his best friends, so naturally he had voiced his opinions to her after thinking about how Draco's entire life was revolving around Scorpius that the widower should do something more to occupy his time and life.

He had felt so proud of himself for succeeding in making Draco befriended her because Ginny genuinely loved Scorpius and she truly had the Malfoys' best interest in her heart that he could now turn to the perfect person for advice when he was trying to help his new friend and the boy he had wronged. It had been quite encouraging at the time that she had agreed with him but he frowned at her words now because he knew for certain that he had not exactly used the words "get a life" and it was puzzling that she would bring this up now.

"Of course." He was not sure what she was getting at.

"I'm thinking… don't get me wrong, it's really nice of you that you really care about Draco's wellbeing and life balance but perhaps you should worry about yourself and your life balance first. I do agree that a job would do him good, but I think you should consider working less yourself."

He was suddenly feeling very tired again, "Gin, you know I can't do that to Hermione… We've only earned back _some_ goodwill after the disaster and we don't have enough Aurors so everyone is working too much. Besides, you know the Deputy Head can't do my job... "

His wife would not be so easily persuaded that she interrupted him firmly. "You're brilliant at your job, Harry. We all know that but you've the tendency to do everything yourself, to take on all the responsibilities and burdens… Remember how you were during the war, how reluctant you were to enlist any help when you had returned to Hogwarts looking for the Diadem even though you had no bloody clue what the Horcurx was, how you would only request Neville to kill the snake when you had thought that you were about to die. We don't know what would have happened had you enlisted help earlier but we know for certain that Voldemort couldn't have been defeated had you not asked for help… And you're the same way after the war. You jumped on the opportunity to work as an Auror mere weeks after the war and…" she let out a sigh before continuing, "you tend to hold yourself accountable, take things very personally and you used to believe that you simply had to be on the frontline every single time… Even now, you don't seem to know how to say 'no' and you have troubles delegating tasks to your subordinates. I certainly won't say I _know_ that the Deputy Head can't do your job, I can't even remember the guy's name but am I right to assume that he would have your job if you leave?"

"Most likely but I didn't say anything about leaving."

"Harry, you seem to hold yourself accountable for the safety of the whole Wizarding World and the idea itself, that any individual could ever feel that way would have sounded crazy had you been anyone but Harry Potter. You might have gotten so used to your sense of responsibility that it might feel natural to you but it's not… You're one person, you may be the Head of Department but you're _not_ your department. You might feel that your department can't operate without you… but no one is truly irreplaceable in any job, including Hermione and you. The world always moves on, it's the same in every job, every government, every Quidditch team, etcetera… Your Deputy Head may be able to replace you if you leave, or he would turn out to be crap and some other guy will get the job. The point is, someone _always_ do... I do love how noble and selfless you're… they're some of your best qualities but you really should learn to ask for help and to trust your colleagues more. I'm not asking you to quit because I know it's pointless, despite the fact that we have enough to support the rest of our lives … all I'm asking is for you to consider asking for help more and perhaps, taking a holiday."

"A holiday…" He dumbly repeated. He had been trying to come up with a reasonable argument against her words but somewhere along the way, it had just evaporated because he knew that she was right even though he was not ready to admit it. But hearing the word "holiday", he had to think really hard to remember the last trip he had taken with his family. Remembering how much Draco had been able to improve his relationship with Scorpius following their Christmas trip, he suddenly found himself yearning to take a trip with Albus somewhere where he would end up telling him about his nightmares and he would figure a way out to help the boy. Of course Ginny, James and Lily all had to be there as well.

As if she was reading his thoughts, Ginny said, "Sometimes a trip can do wonders to better a relationship." He nodded but did not say anything.

Thinking about his children, his thoughts returned to the wasted hours he had spent sleeping. They could play on their own anytime they wanted during the Easter break but he only had so many holidays within the school year that he could spend with them. "Gin, what have our kids been doing in the afternoon?"

"Hmm… they're tired themselves after flying in the morning and the hearty meal, so they preferred to do something quiet anyway. They played some wizard's chess and Al returned to his room soon after talking to me. I believe he's been writing a letter."

"I see… do you think they're disappointed that I've spent the whole afternoon napping?"

"If you'd been able to see how pale you had looked this morning, I doubt you'd worry about this at all."

"Oh."

"To be fair, you did look much better after the game when you flew on Al's broomstick."

He agreed, reminiscing the pure happiness he had felt flying on the Nimbus 2000. "I _felt_ much better by then, I didn't realise how much I had missed my first broomstick."

"Do you know what I was thinking about when I saw you flying on the Nimbus 2000 today?"

"No."

"I thought you looked happy… really, really happy and I don't even remember when you had been this happy last…" There was a sad smile on her face. "I don't remember when you had last flown on your broomstick either, it's always me who would practice flying or Quidditch with our kids these days."

He gently held up both of her hands before saying, "You're right… I was remembering the first time I flew on my own Nimbus 2000 as an eleven-year-old but I was happy…" he looked up to stare right into the beautiful chocolate-brown eyes of his wife's, "I mean _really_ happy up there because I was reminded about how lucky I'm to have you and our wonderful kids."

Most of the time when he complimented her, she would be pleased but tend to respond playfully. This time however, she continued to stare at him tenderly but silently for a few seconds before she pulled him in for another kiss. After the kiss, she whispered to his ear, "You're so loved, dear… by me and _all_ of your children."

"I'll think about what you said… You know how bad things had been after the incidents but it looks like things are finally starting to calm down, I would really like to go on a holiday too."

"Remember you told me about those cycling trips Muggles would go on to?"

"Of course." Harry certainly could not see Ginny on a Muggle bicycle and she never seemed to appreciate them when they came across them in Muggle London. Once she had stared at a group of athletic bike riders for a long time that she had been given some weird looks. She later told him that she had thought that their postures looked the same as a flier except their intense expressions made them looked like they were struggling to lift themselves off the ground… or struggling to go to the toilet.

"Maybe we should go on a flying trip as a family!" There was something in that but even though all of his family could fly well now, they could not fly in broad daylight in most areas and there simply were too many potential hazards.

"Gin, I don't think…"

"Just kidding, I know there's no way we would be able to control our children on such a long trip in the air, maybe we can abandon them so the two of us can do that…" seeing his raised eyebrow at the mention of abandoning their kids, she amended, " _I mean_ , we can do that when they're in Hogwarts… you know this doesn't sound half as cool and exciting, don't you?"

* * *

A/N: This conversation was supposed to be all playful banter… oh well, perhaps it was affected by my own mood.

I'm a very self-conscious person who could never feel comfortable putting myself out there that it's a miracle I've lasted this long here. I take things too personally and a big problem for me is that I've been addicted to this site, meaning I have the stats opened at all times and I'd refresh it every five minutes. Recently, I contemplated abandoning the fic for the first time because I realized just how much a toll this has taken me. I decided to limit the time I spend here because I was really unhappy and always distracted. It's been helpful but the downside is, I don't feel as much excitement and satisfaction in writing anymore after getting rid of this direct incentive. I'm very sorry but I can't go back to the way before because it's disruptive to my daily life. Lately I'd open the fic and barely been able to put anything down most days. It doesn't help that I've been struggling with the pacing and how to move forward the plot. These days I feel like each chapter is an entry to a Potter family diary.

I'll avoid writing long chapters from now on because I just can't help having higher and maybe unrealistic expectations when I've spent twice the amount of time on a chapter and when those expectations aren't met, I become filled with self-doubt and unhappiness, then self-loathing for letting myself feel that way. I know it's my own fault for feeling that way but I can't always control the way I feel. Maybe by keeping things short I'll be able to update more regularly.

Thank you so much to JennH because your lovely comment arrived at a moment of self-hatred that it helped to change my perspectives. Thank you Criis46 and the guests who also left a comment. Any comment will mean so much to me.


	49. Family Evening

At dinner, Albus seemed relieved to see Harry looking less tired even though he did not talk too much himself. The pizzas were not bad but it was not the type of family dinner Harry preferred and had envisioned for his precious holiday. They exchanged a few casual words occasionally but mostly just focused on eating. However, all of his family stayed behind at the living room afterwards and they had a pleasant time.

For the first time in years, the whole family played Exploding Snap together. It was loud and the cards must have exploded for at least a hundred times by the time they were done. Harry suspected that someone, likely his eldest son, might have tweaked the game a little as he could have sworn it had not exploded as badly in his youth, or he just had a lower tolerance to noise and explosion as an adult. In fact, he had to put out five fires over the course of two hours.

James was by far the best player, followed by Albus, who had great reflexes but was looking a bit tired and distracted. Harry could truly be engaged in the games after his long nap and it was a great escape from his stressful work, to just shout, scream and laugh his head off with his family but he was consciously watching Al out of the corner of his eye, who had in turn kept turning to glance at him throughout the game that their eyes had met a few times, which were always followed by the awkward but quick turning-away of both the father and son.

* * *

Later, Harry found himself chilling next to Albus while everyone was drinking a bottle of Butterbeer. Ginny, James and Lily were deeply engaged in a debate about which team would win the League this year. The fact that Al had opted out of that discussion was a surprise to Harry, remembering the way he had animatedly talked about his idol, the Brazilian Chaser Gonçalo Flores, at the New Year's Eve gathering, but then he realised that he had no idea if Al cared about the British and Irish League at all, he could be just interested in the international teams at this stage.

"No, the Tornados are 400 hundreds points behind, I don't think they've a chance… the Catapults have been doing great that I think they have a real shot. I mean, they have one of the best and youngest Seekers in the League..."

It should not have come as a surprise to Harry that Lily, who had always seemed more similar to Ginny than Harry, and had born into a large family of avid Quidditch fans, would appear to really know her stuff in front of the senior Quidditch correspondent of the Daily Prophet but perhaps because she had always been more of a casual fan and had seemed more interested in bands, animals and magical creatures that he was suddenly struck with the realisation that his daughter had become all grown-up. It was not even April but it looked like she had already grown more than an inch since the start of the year. At this rate, she would likely be taller than Albus by the end of the year. He tried not to think about the inevitable day when she would start dating (or had she already found her first boyfriend?) but to listen to their debate instead, which was indeed stimulating and well-thought out instead of some past-time debates by amateurs even though Lily was only a thirteen-year-old and had never been on a team before.

Albus had been quietly drinking his Butterbeer without showing any sign that he had been paying attention to his family's conversation. He definitely looked tired to Harry as he noticed the ever present heavy bags under his eyes.

"How are you doing, Albus?"

The boy's shoulders jumped up literally as he frantically turned his head a few times, "Wh-what?"

Harry cringed a little as he pushed a hand outward to calm the boy down, "Sorry, Albus. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Oh… I wouldn't say you scared me, dad. It's just that I was sort of… daydreaming." His son proceeded to take a sip of his buttery drink to calm his nerves but did not say anything anymore like he had not heard his question at all.

Harry watched him for half a minute to realise that he was not getting an answer but he did not wanted to scare the boy again, so he gently nudged him with his elbow, "Hmm, Albus… you look so tired, are you feeling okay?" He added another question somewhat reluctantly as he did not truly want Al to agree to this suggestion even though it was the right thing to say. "Do you want to go back to your own room?"

"I'm fine, dad… It's comfy here, I wanna stay for a bit longer."

Remembering the way Albus had bravely attempted to save every goal, he was glad that this gave him some easy topics to talk about, "Did you hurt yourself this morning? Some of the blocks looked particularly rough."

Albus let out a deep sigh, Harry wondered if it was done for his benefit. "I told you, dad... I'm fine." At least his tone only sounded impatient but not irritated.

"Sometimes when you hurt yourself at Quidditch, you wouldn't notice it until much later, and I should know about that. I d-don't mean to fuss over you, Albus… but you were untrained and you have done such a brave job… so naturally I'd feel a bit concerned."

Seeing Harry's reasoning, Albus answered after deliberating for ten seconds. "You don't have to worry much, dad. You saw it yourself that I was covered from head to toes…" He shrugged before continuing, "My muscles do feel sore and I believe I got a few small bruises but that's it. I didn't break or injure anything."

"Oh, you got bruises!" Harry had never been the kind of father who pampered his children much and he had brushed off hundreds or probably thousands of bruises in his Quidditch days but he did not even take a moment to think as he draw his wand out, " _Accio_ bruise removal paste." Albus' eyes widened while his family's conversation died down as they turned to stare at the piece of yellow paste flying into Harry's hand.

Al made a face when Harry reached his hand out towards the boy, with the paste lying on his open palm, "Dad! They're only some tiny bruises, this is hardly necessary!"

"Of course it's."

Albus turned to look at his siblings, who were hastily turning back towards each other after some urging by Ginny, before reaching out to pick up the paste very reluctantly. He sighed then slowly placed his bottle on the coffee table, stole a glance towards his siblings again, who seemed to be trying their hardest to pretend not to look, before rolling up his right sleeve until a dark bruise the size of a Galleon on his elbow came into view.

George and Ron had significantly improved the paste that it could work now within ten minutes but with his left hand needing to hold the paste in place, Albus looked very awkward as he reached for his Butterbeer after a minute. Thanks to Ginny, the conversation at the opposite side had completely resumed and James and Lily did not seem to pay their brother any attention at all.

After a minute, Albus breathed out, "This is so embarrassing." It was said with frustration and resigned annoyance instead of anger and spite, but Harry could not help wondering if he had overreacted. He had not tried to talk to Albus since he had summoned the paste and his son looked like he was in no mood to talk at all. As he used the awkward moment to think it over, he agreed that if he had been Albus, he would not have wanted to fuss over some small bruises, especially not in front of his siblings. He started kicking himself for overdoing it when all he wanted to do was to help but it was only because this was such a rare chance in which he knew exactly what he could easily do to help, unlike Al's nightmares. He should have at least let Al tend to the bruises in private in his own room but he could not undo it now so he desperately tried to talk about something that could change the atmosphere.

"Hey Albus, have you heard anything from Scorpius lately?"

Al looked somewhat surprised by the sudden mention of his best friend but then a smile broke on his face, "Yes, I've just received a letter from him today."

"How's he doing?"

"Great, he's been _spending a lot of quality time with his dad_. And these were his exact words." Harry laughed out loud as Al had even said the line in a posh and high-pitched Scorpius-like voice. He was not surprised to hear Scorpius spending more time with his dad, the Malfoys had been getting along so much better these days that the truth was, he could only hope that he and Albus could reach the same type of understanding and trusting relationship the Malfoys now shared.

"Yeah," the way Albus said it sounded to him that there was more to the story. His son seemed to have completely forgotten about his annoyance with the bruise removal paste as he laughed happily to himself after a moment. Harry was curious, wondering if the boy would share his little joke as he started taking a sip from his bottle.

"Scorpius had his dad helped him built a mini house for his Pygmy Puffs."

Harry choked on his drink and it was not until a whole minute of coughing later when he could breathe normally.

Albus tried very hard not to laugh at his expense and had asked "Are you okay, dad?" but it was obvious that he had found his reaction hilarious and he was looking forward to elaborate on the story. It was very uncomfortable but deep down, Harry thought it was worth it to choke like that just to hear his son's rare hearty laugh.

Al continued once he had stopped coughing. "Scorpius had seen many beautiful and sophisticated Muggle dollhouses before and he wanted to build a three-storey one just like it. His father had argued that the Pygmy Puffs would not have much use for it when they could freely roam, or more accurately, roll around the Manor but you know how things are with Scorpius and his dad… Scorpius always wins." He pronounced the last sentence with a fond smile, the happiest Harry had seen since he had been back.

"Mr Malfoy had wanted to just buy one and he didn't even care about the price but Scorpius really wanted to build an unique one of his own and he even pulled out the trump card saying he wanted to share the experience with his dad that before you knew it, they had been working on it the past two days and haven't finished it yet even with the help of magic because it's all so new and difficult for them. Scorpius originally wanted to paint the house pink or purple but had since decided against it and painted it in light blue and cream."

It was once again proven to Harry that Draco Malfoy would do absolutely anything for his son. He could not truly reconcile the image of the snotty bully who had _enjoyed_ spitting out the word Mudblood at any available opportunity with this softie of a father building a _dollhouse_ with his son, but then it really was not much of a stretch for _this_ Draco Malfoy he had grown to know, the one who had been willing to get lost in time for eternity in order to have his son back, the one who had written that long heartfelt letter to thank him after he had done what he had believed to be a simple thing to let Albus visited the Malfoys on Christmas day, the one who had nearly choked up being greeted by his excited son following a school term and the one who had said that Scorpius' happiness was the only thing that mattered in his life. It only made sense that he would agree to anything harmless as long as it would make his son happy.

Thankfully, talking about the Malfoys had put Albus in a much more talkative mood that he even shared with Harry about some of the school topics he had found particularly challenging and his concern about the O.W.L.s. It was a nice change for him to be able to give helpful advices for once. He steered clear of the topic of Al's nightmares because things were going well that he did not want to risk messing it up, not to mention the fact that Al would hate talking about anything personal in front of his brother. Even though Harry had a long nap in the afternoon, he had been so sleep-deprived lately that he still found himself yawning by eleven o'clock.

* * *

Harry got up at eight-thirty to cook breakfast for his family the following day. He had hoped that Albus would sleep in but was not surprised to find his son silently sitting on the sofa on his own staring blankly at a half-empty mug when he reached the ground floor.

He tried to muster as much cheerfulness as he could as he greeted the boy, "Good morning, Albus. You're up early!"

"Good morning, dad." Al gave him a slightly tired smile, but the way his eyes had lighted up a little told Harry that his son seemed genuinely happy to see him. "Hmm… I was up half an hour ago and couldn't get back to sleep, I thought that I should wait for you so… I could watch you cook."

Considering that waking up at eight really was not that bad, if Albus was indeed telling the truth, Harry was able to focus on the bright side here to relish the information that Al actually seemed to have _enjoyed_ cooking with him the previous day and wanted to spend more time with him instead of sulking in his room. "Of course! Do you want to help out today or do you prefer to just watch?"

It was the Saturday before Easter and while the Potter family needed to attend the big Weasley family gathering at the Burrow on Easter Sunday, Saturday was more free so Harry had made plans to bring the whole family to have lunch at Andromeda's home with Andromeda, Teddy and Victoire, which was why Harry decided on a light breakfast with just eggs and toasts. However, just as his family had different preferences for the types of pancakes, they had different preferences for eggs as well with Lily and Ginny liking poached eggs, James liking fried eggs and Harry and Al liking scrambled eggs, which made this the perfect cooking lesson as well as father-son bonding session where Harry got to teach Al how to cook not one, but three types of eggs within half an hour.

Harry still remembered he had used to be very afraid of cracking eggs when he had first learned cooking as a child because he had been chided by Aunt Petunia for being clumsy and having gotten egg whites everywhere or breaking the eye yolks and been reprimanded very severely once by Uncle Vernon because there had been eggshells in his egg.

Harry had cracked the eggs himself the previous day when he made the pancakes so this was the first time his son cracked eggs on his own. He did not realise he was holding a breath when he saw Albus gingerly crack his first egg but his son managed to do it perfectly after seeing him do it once. His heart swelled with pride as he saw the boy gained confidence and was able to do it flawlessly again and again. Harry had learned a foolproof spell to help him crack eggs but he decided that he did not need to teach his son that because there was something unreasonably satisfying about seeing a precisely cracked egg without the use of magic.

He had thought that Al was good the previous day but seeing his son familiarised himself quickly with the various techniques after seeing each demonstrated only once convinced Harry that Al had a talent in cooking and he could not help pondering the possibility that they had created a new family tradition of their own for the father and son to cook breakfast as a way to bond. While he certainly preferred his son to be able to sleep in every day of the holiday, which would mean that he was comfortably sleeping without being plagued with nightmares, he found himself loving the opportunity to share this time with his son. He did not try to talk about anything outside of cooking today but it was a lovely time shared by just the two of them.

* * *

A/N: I might have made a couple of (small) miniature models this year that I had to have Scorpius making one. I see Scorpius as an overly-excited puppy who would easily be attracted by cute things. And Draco… let's just say Scorpius is his biggest weakness, haha.

Thank you so much for all your kind words, I was feeling quite upset earlier but I've been doing better even though I've been rather distracted so next chapter might take a bit longer. I was going to do a special shoutout but decided I should just thank everyone because every comment meant so much to me: Sharklove9999, wrestlingfanforever, Criis46, Ronnie Jane, HogwartsDreamer113 and kahn1969, special shoutout to JennH, I was really moved by your lovely comment. I love you all and please comment.

PS: Yes, I'm not even trying with the chapter title ;)


	50. The Blonde Stranger

Harry was not sure whether he loved greeting his godson more or seeing Teddy happily greeting his children, who might as well had been his siblings, more as he arrived at the fireplace of Andromeda's home, drinking in the sight of his godson taking turns to affectionately greet each member of his family. He decided that he might prefer the latter by a hair as it was actually rarer for Teddy to meet his kids these days now that Teddy had been working for a few years while he theoretically had the freedom to visit Harry whenever he wanted. Before the incidents and Teddy's promotion, his godson would visit the Potters for dinner at least once a week but things had been crazy lately that he had only seen his godson twice since Andromeda's birthday, including once when Teddy had come for a quick lunch at his office.

The young orphan had only been six years old when he had nervously held James for the very first time (with Harry's help) and it was still one of Harry's happiest and most treasured memories in his life, one which had been powerful enough for him to conjure his Patronus. The moment had been magical because even though Harry and the Weasleys had all rallied around Andromeda and Teddy following the Lupins' deaths, there would always be a part missing in Teddy's life and a look at his godson had told Harry that the lonely metamorphmagus child, who had immediately transformed his hair to match the ginger tuft of hair of the sleeping infant, had already loved James like his own brother. If Harry had a pensieve of his own, he would have revisited that moment, as well as his wedding and the births of his children, countless times by now already.

Each of the Potter children was special to Teddy in his or her own way, with James being the first one, Albus being the only non-Gryffindor whom Teddy could relate with the most being a bit of an "outsider", and Lily being the only girl and the baby of the family that Teddy could not help from spoiling her the most. Harry would not be surprised if Teddy was the favourite "sibling" of each of his children. Thinking about Teddy's lovely relationships with his children, Harry had no doubt that Scorpius would quickly become another little brother of Teddy's that he could not wait for his godson to meet his cousins for the first time.

Teddy, who was sporting light green hair which stuck out all over the place like Harry and Al's hair but looked more like stylish grass with tiny pastel-coloured Easter eggs all over, was just done giving Lily a bear hug when he spotted his godfather and gave him the warmest smile. Harry walked over before his godson automatically pulled him into a tight hug.

"Welcome, Harry." The close proximity made Harry consciously thought about the fact that the young man was now a good three inches taller than him even though Teddy could have changed his height to make himself taller. In any case, no matter how much Teddy had grown, he would always be a child to him.

* * *

Just like Andromeda's birthday dinner, Victoire had cooked the entire meal all on her own and of course it was a wonderful meal. There were a roasted chicken, another peacock salad, a large quiche, some mashed potato sculpted into cute but realistic-looking bunnies as well as a pasta before a "basket", which was really a cake, was served at the end of the meal. This was the very first time in which any cousin of the half-French girl got to try her cooking. All of the Potter children were suitably impressed but it was Albus who took a special interest in how Vic had seemingly effortlessly crafted all the gorgeous and delicious dishes completely with magic. Given the fact that Molly's cooking tended to be more homey (yet equally delicious) and Harry used little magic in his cooking, Al had never gotten the chance to see just how impressive wizarding cooking could be. Much to Vic's surprise, Albus, who had been one of the cousins she had always been least close to due to the age difference, the different Hogwart houses and his awkward personality, was extremely curious about her cooking process and had asked many questions during the meal.

"How long did it take for you to cook the whole meal, Vic?"

"Just over half an hour."

"You mean you can bake _this_ without an oven?"

"Technically yes, but I prefer to heat it up inside an oven because the texture would be more even but it could be done within a few minutes with magic."

"So you could really shape the salad into _this_ with one spell?"

"Well, it's not that simple… The spell allows me to manipulate the shape but I could only do this because I love arts and I know how to sculpt. And I could only do it fast because I have had so much practice."

Vic seemed flattered by Al's apparent admiration while Harry allowed himself to hope that cooking was more than something his son tried out for the sole purpose of killing time after being woken up by his nightmares or waking up earlier than he had intended. (He reminded himself that there was no proof that Al had been woken up by nightmares this morning) He had always hoped that one of his children would develop an interest in cooking so he could share another mutual interest other than flying with someone in his family and to teach the kid all he knew. Over the past two years, he had been given false hope that Lily would be the one but she had grown more and more like Ginny that he had resigned to being the only cook in the family. Never in a million years had he imagined Albus to be the first member of his household to show any remote interest in cooking.

Teddy, on the other hand, turned from amused to bewildered by Al's new interest. The young couple was known to be joined at the hip that he was undoubtedly craving some intimacy with his fiancée following the half-hour "separation" in which she had been cooking, as evidenced by the hand he had placed on her thigh most of the time they had been eating that he would prefer Albus to stop bombarding Vic with questions for a bit.

"Albus, since when did you start cooking?"

"I-I don't… I m-mean, yesterday… I-I guess." The boy's face turned red as he stammered.

Teddy looked amused as he noticed how embarrassed Al looked, so he encouraged warmly, "Ah… I look forward to try your cooking someday. You seem to have quite a keen interest in it, I bet you could get really good at it."

His son nodded without looking at his friendly godbrother, "I probably won't be good enough to cook something for real."

"Nonsense, your pancakes and eggs are already miles ahead of anything I've ever attempted in my forty years." It did not come as a surprise that Ginny was already so proud of Al's cooking, but Harry thought her just a bit thick-skinned to actually sound _proud_ of her own inability to cook in front of everyone.

"I-I was just helping dad, mum. Of course it would be decent when he was there to watch my every step."

"You're too modest, son." Harry jumped in to praise the boy. "Most people would not be able to do as well as you did after seeing it demonstrated just once. Besides, I didn't even need to correct or help you in anything."

"If you said so." Albus muttered before turning his attention to the chicken meat on his plate and started cutting and eating with a sudden sense of urgency. Harry thought it might not be an exaggeration to say that his boy hated compliments.

Again Harry was sitting next to Andromeda during the meal and the elegant widow updated him about her recent contact with Draco.

"Oh Harry, I haven't told you about the delicious biscuits I have gotten from Draco."

"That's nice of him," he added while trying hard to oppress a snicker, "I'm guessing it's something quite luxurious."

She was such a dignified lady but she let out an uncharacteristic laugh, "You're quite right, Harry. It's really generous of him to have sent it but it's a hundred-pieces gift box decorated with gold he had specially ordered from Paris. Even though the biscuits would still be good within a year and it's truly delicious… actually it's probably some of the best biscuits I've ever tasted, it's just way too many for the two of us. You should all try some after lunch."

Harry always loved an excuse for him to taste snacks carefreely without being disapproved by Ginny for consuming too much sugar so he readily agreed.

Like the "vase" from Andromeda's birthday, Vic's basket cake, which was chocolate fruit cake with butterbeer cream, was delicious and devoured by everyone. Albus was not the only one from his family to share Ron's appetite that despite the grand meal, they were able to finish the huge cake. As promised, Andromeda took out Draco's gift to be shared with all her guests.

"I recognise this," Albus' eyes brightened even though he should have felt too stuffed to eat anything, sometimes Harry believed that his youngest son's stomach probably had been hit by an undetectable extension charm at some point in his life. It had always been a mystery to him how Albus managed to stay small and thin all his life considering the way he ate, and his appetite would be especially insatiable when he was in a good mood. "Scorpius' father regularly sends him care packages and this is one of my favourites! There's quite a variety here but my favourite is the chocolate crepe, it's so crispy, creamy and delicious!"

In his excitement to talk about the snack he loved so much, the boy did not seem to realise how he had leaned all the way forward to get a better view of the box and had exclaimed the words. It was such a rare sight for some around the table to see him so excited that Albus became suddenly aware of the attentions he was gathering and turned very self-conscious about it as he sat back up and looked down.

The biscuits met Harry's high expectation set based on Al's words that he tried quite a few pieces himself. If the two families had not been this close, he would have felt embarrassed by the shameless eagerness displayed by his children while devouring the lovely snacks that they had managed to finish half of the grand box within twenty minutes.

While the dishes were being put away by Ginny and Vic, Harry took the time to go to the restroom while the rest of the family was returning to the sitting room to spend a few more hours together before the Potters' departure.

* * *

When Harry was walking towards the sitting room after a minute, he intended to seek out Teddy to chat with him a bit more but he stopped short the moment he caught sight of Albus and the person next to him. The young man standing tall next to Al was laughing easily and he had silky white-blonde hair, a pointy face, very pale complexion and most startling of all, beautiful gray eyes with long eyelashes.

By this time, the sight of Albus standing next to a boy with platinum blonde hair was a very natural one but there was something very strange about what Harry was seeing because instead of the three-inch height difference between the best friends he had witnessed just a few days ago, this young man was more than a head taller than his son but Al looked every bit as comfortable next to the strange young man as he would be in his best friend's presence. It took Harry twenty seconds and a closer look of the strange boy's outfit to realise that after the Christmas gathering, once again he had failed to recognise his godson, who had somehow never appeared in _platinum_ blonde hair in at least the last ten years. To add to his defense, Teddy had rarely changed the shape of his face, which had the power to completely transform his look. Fortunately for Harry, Teddy noticed him and waved him over just after he had figured out who he was instead of before. He tried to look as neutral as he could but he realised that he was not doing a good job as Teddy's smile cooled a little as he saw the strange way his godfather was staring at him.

It was very curious to Harry that the family connection between the Malfoys and Teddy had never come into his mind before the past Christmas, and even though he had inevitably seen the Malfoys at least twice a year for the past few years thanks to the boys' friendship, he had never noticed any resemblance to the Malfoys in his godson's appearance until now but staring at this young man who looked simultaneously foreign and familiar to him, he realised that his godson did look very similar to his cousins, even if he had appeared normally instead of in this Malfoys' disguise. Now that he had seen it, he could not unsee the resemblance, which could be found not only in the hair, chin, complexion and eye colour, but also in Teddy's natural deep set eyes, his long nose, his slender fingers, and in several other body features he had never paid much attention to before.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is short. I've gotten carried away by the last part, it's gotten too long and messy and like I said before, I don't want to post long chapters anymore so it's easier for me to just divide the chapter. (pros: faster update) I can't say I'm too happy with this but it's not the first time that I update out of frustration. Anyway, I've gotten quite attached to Teddy now it's hard to believe that he was first mentioned as a throwaway line, I guess the unpredictability makes the fic more fun to write.

Thank you HogwartsDreamer113, Scorpiusisthebest, wrestlingfanforever and Ronnie Jane for commenting. And JennH, I'm so glad I was not the only one who had a hard time getting Anthony's portrayal of Scorpius. Thank you for everyone who follows but a comment would make my day ;)


	51. Word of Advice

"Are you alright, Harry? You don't look so good." Of course Teddy's voice sounded the same as he always did as he asked in concern, but it sounded a little jarring to Harry to hear his godson's warm voice coming out from someone who looked just like the proud but graceful Draco and the posh but awkward Scorpius.

"Hmm… n-nothing, I just never realised how much you look like the Malfoys."

"Oh, you think so? I've mostly just changed the colours of my features but I did change the shape of my chin as well." Harry could tell his godson was feeling rather proud of his transformation and quite pleased by Harry's assessment but for whatever reason, he seemed to be trying hard to suppress his excitement.

"Yes, you could totally pass for Scorpius' older brother with this look." Harry meant every word, for a fraction of a second there he had totally thought that it had been Scorpius standing with Al despite the wrong height difference.

Albus laughed, "That's what I was telling Teddy too but he didn't seem to believe me that he insisted to wait for you."

"Of course I trust you, Albus, I-I just need to hear Harry's opinions because I'm not sure if it'd be the right thing for me to do to change into this look in front of them." It was such a rare occurrence for Harry to ever see his godson acting this nervous and with this look, it felt so surreal to him because Teddy's frown on that pale forehead looked just like the frown on Scorpius' face when he had first appeared at the fireplace at the Malfoys' sitting room on Christmas day, that it was almost like seeing an older nervous Scorpius.

Thinking about the vulnerable young boy who had cried on the platform hearing the news that he was going to meet his cousin, there was no doubt in Harry's mind that Scorpius would be delighted to see Teddy in this look. Meeting a cousin was one thing but there could be no statement as powerful as Teddy appearing like the Malfoys to show his ready acceptance of the cousins he had never met. For a lonely boy like Scorpius, seeing his blood cousin like this would probably be the closest the only child would ever get to experience to having a brother of his own. How Draco would feel about Teddy appearing in his Malfoy's look, however, would be an entirely different story, at least it would be based on Harry's understanding of his friend.

For all the times Harry had seen Draco looking at Scorpius, his love towards the boy had always been evident in his glances, including the instance when the boys had emerged from the lake immediately after making the most terrible mistake one could possibly make, to use a Time-Turner to revive the Dark Lord, albeit unintentionally. However, there was something else which had always been equally present in Malfoy's glance, which had been his guilt, even when he had embraced the boy just a few days ago after Harry had formally invited Scorpius to meet Teddy, when the relationship between the Malfoys had been the best it had ever been.

Maybe it was because Harry had been constantly feeling guilty himself for various and entirely different reasons, but he had gotten pretty good at spotting someone else's guilt. He could not claim to know his former nemesis' heart but according to their conversations and Draco's letters, he would guess that Draco had been constantly feeling guilty for having let the rumour spread and grown as bad as it had, for giving Scorpius a last name which had associated the innocent boy to Death Eaters and Voldemort when the boy could not be any more different from them, for the early death of Astoria even though that could not have been his fault and for having failed the boy when Scorpius had needed his support the most following her passing.

These were by no means what Harry believed himself because he genuinely believed that Draco had done a brilliant parenting job but what he guessed his friend would feel. No matter how much the relationship between the father and son had improved, Harry could tell that Draco's burden of his guilt would never disappear completely. It made Harry feel bad for his friend because he knew the widower had tried so hard to do everything within his power to make his son happy and he sincerely believed that Draco deserved to feel happy after having worked so hard to become a better person, having raised such a kind-hearted son and experienced so much loss in his life.

Had Teddy, or Tonks for that matter, the "disgrace" of the pureblood Black family, had dared to change his or her appearance to match the prestigious pureblood Malfoys, Draco would have been very insulted back in the days when he had been a discriminating git and a bully in Hogwarts. However, if what Malfoy had said during the Christmas breakfast was any indication, _Imagine the worry you would have felt had your family been one of the most hated families in the wizarding world that your son would likely be bullied in school with no one to rely on,_ his friend's perspectives regarding the Malfoy name and appearance must have undergone a huge change that given the choice, he probably would happily let Scorpius take a different name and a different appearance if it meant that his son could live free from the burden of their family's reputation and wrongs. Harry was not sure about how Draco would feel about Teddy happily taking on a Malfoy's appearance now, even just for a few minutes, because while he was certain that Draco would not feel insulted, this would represent a closer association to the infamous family that the older Malfoy was no longer that proud to be a part of.

Harry had seen many times how Draco had handled the way strangers openly gossiped about him and thrown dark looks at him with unwavering dignity and grace but it was not like his friend had much of a choice in the matter. Scorpius, on the other hand, seemed easily embarrassed and would appear all flushed and self-conscious when someone would insult or bad-mouth him even though like his father, he would not rise to anyone's bait.

While not as famous as the Potters and the Weasleys, Teddy was widely-liked as the son of two war heroes, the godson of Harry Potter, a former Hogwarts Head Boy and for his noble work in helping werewolves. If anything, Harry thought that there was a possibility that Draco would have gotten so self-conscious about the Malfoy name that he would prefer his cousin not to associate himself with them more than necessary in fear for him to be exposed to the daily hate the Malfoys had gotten so accustomed to and to risk Teddy realising that he was making a mistake to get to know them at the first place.

Harry hoped that he was thinking too much into this but there was nothing wrong about being extra cautious. "I've gotten to know Draco pretty well by now and considering the fact that he comes from a traditional pureblood family, it might be best for you to take on a more formal and serious appearance when you meet him."

Teddy's nervous smile disappeared as he reverted all the changes and transformed back into his natural appearance, with light brown hair, light blue eyes, slightly tanned skin and a square chin. Having gotten used to Teddy's wilder looks, it was so rare for Harry to see his godson looking so _normal_. While in Hogwarts, the professors had understood that it would have been difficult for the young metamorphmagus to restrain from using his abilities completely that they had let Teddy changed among natural hair colours in school, his godson had found it so restricting that he would change to crazy colours while going to the restrooms between classes or before going to sleep. Teddy always felt most comfortable when he could add a bit of "colour" and "flavour" to his look. "You mean _formal_ formal, Harry?" He asked as he gestured a hand towards his face while trying to keep a straight face the best he could, then he turned his hair into a mixture of turquoise blue and a golden blonde significantly darker than the Malfoy blonde, which had been one of Teddy's all-time favourite colour combinations, "Or a _casual_ formal?" He threw his godfather a wink while pronouncing the word casual.

Harry let out a laugh, "I don't think Draco would mind your turquoise hair but I guess it's best for you not to try the Malfoy look when you first meet him. I'm sure Scorpius would love that look but Draco would need some time to warm up to your metamorphic abilities."

"That sounds fair enough." Teddy gave him an understanding smile. "I'm very glad I can consult with you about these things, Harry. Gran's liking Draco a lot from their correspondence but of course exchanging letters is completely different from knowing someone personally."

The young man then turned to his godbrother and gave him a fond smile, "No offense, Albus, but your opinions sounded a bit screwed when you kept excitedly repeating, 'You look just like Scorpius!' that you can't really blame me for wanting to hear a second opinion."

Albus shrugged and said, "I guess you had a point. For your information, I used to find Mr Malfoy a bit scary and even intimidating at times but he seems friendlier and… I would say more mild-mannered these days. I had never seen him hugged Scorpius before G… I mean before last year but they hug all the times now. Scorpius talks about his father non-stop now when he rarely talked about him before." The boy added after deliberating for ten seconds, "I think I've actually seen Mr Malfoy smiled tw-, no, about three times by now."

Maybe it was the way his son had taken the trouble to try to recall exactly how many times he had seen Draco smiled, or the importance in his tone as he voiced the observation as if it was some secret that could help Draco warm up to Teddy instantly, Harry exchanged a glance with Teddy before they burst out laughing. Albus turned his head between his father and godbrother then started looking down with his face as red as a tomato. "What? I thought this was something you would _like_ to know!"

Teddy wrapped an arm around Albus' shoulders, "You're absolutely right, Albus! I do appreciate it a lot but I guess we just found it funny the way you said it." Al seemed reassured even though his lips were still in the shape of a slight pout. "Now, I've something very important to ask you, what present do you think I should get for Scorpius?"

* * *

The topic of the upcoming wedding had come up during lunch but sometimes there were things not meant to be said in front of everyone.

"I can't believe you're getting married in four months. It seems like I held you in my arms for the first time just yesterday. You were already quite the metamorphmagus master by the time I met you. From the moment I looked into your eyes for the first time, which incidentally were green at the time, I knew I loved you like my own son… that you would always be part of my family..." Harry found himself tearing up again, he took a furtive look towards the kitchen to make sure that Ginny had not come out yet while reaching into his pocket for a handkerchief.

Al made a face as he said, "I see what mum meant when she talked about Andromeda's birthday. No offense, dad, but that's embarrassing."

Teddy, however, could not be more appreciative of his emotions. He moved over to embrace his godfather tightly for a moment before turning a bit sideways to say seriously yet not in a way to scold the boy. "You're very lucky, Albus. If you were me, you would wish to have a father to embarrass you in the most terrible ways possible."

"I-I'm s-sorry… I-I didn't mean…" Albus stammered as he worried that he had offended Teddy.

"Don't worry, Albus." Teddy let go of Harry before placing a hand firmly on Albus' shoulder. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad, and I totally understand that you meant it as a joke, but I just want you to remember not to take anything for granted, especially your family's love."

Poor Al still looked very flushed and too embarrassed to meet the eyes of either of them. "I do know that…" He whispered so quietly that Harry would not have heard the words had he not been standing within a foot away from his son.

It was so rare for Harry to ever see his godson talking so seriously and somewhat sternly in front of Albus but he would not be surprised if his godson's one sentence would have more impact on Al than the hour-long conversation he had shared with his son the other day because unlike himself, Teddy had _always_ been incredibly close with Al and the boy had never stopped looking up to his godbrother. While a part of Harry really wished that Teddy had more success than him in getting through to Albus, another part of him desperately felt the need to change the subject seeing how uneasy his son looked.

"Teddy, so how's the wedding coming along?" Harry knew his intention could not be more obvious but he did not really care at all.

Thankfully, his godson gave Al another caring look before cheerfully playing along, "It's going to be great, Harry. Honestly, I feel kind of bad but Bill, Fleur and Aunt Molly are literally taking care of _everything_. In fact, Bill gave Aunt Molly veto power in every decision to make up for having the wedding at Shell Cottage instead of the Burrow."

Harry loved his mother-in-law from the bottom of his heart but he could not help asking, "I guess Molly has been making good use of this power then?" He regretted it immediately after remembering that Al was still standing next to him, at least his son seemed to look more relaxed now that they had turned their attention elsewhere.

Teddy laughed a bit nervously before answering, "I love Aunt Molly and Merlin blesses her but… let's just say she is a perfectionist when it comes to any family event and she has rather _particular_ tastes in things sometime."

Just then, Harry saw that Ginny had come out of the kitchen and was walking towards Andromeda, who was sitting within earshot of them. Even though he had not technically said anything bad about Molly, he guiltily asked a bit loudly, "Hmm… so have you two decided on what you would be wearing on the big day?"

Teddy, whose back had been facing Ginny, blinked his eyes confusedly once before realising the reason of another abrupt subject change as Ginny started talking with Andromeda, he gave Harry a knowing smile and said, "Vic is going to wear Fleur's old dress. She looks absolutely gorgeous in it as if it's tailor-made for her." His godson's starry eyes suggested to Harry that Teddy was visualising his wedding day at this very moment.

Despite Ginny's irrational insistence to remain cold around Fleur, Harry had always behaved as friendly as he could around Fleur. He might not be close to her to the point that he would tell his sister-in-law any secret, but he would always be grateful for her for being one of his doubles the night the Order escorted him from Privet Drive and for taking care of Hermione, Mr Ollivander and Griphook after they had taken refuge at the Shell Cottage during the war.

He would never say it out loud in front of his wife but Harry remembered very well how stunning Fleur had looked in that simple white dress and knowing how well Victoire had inherited her mother's beauty and the fact that they were the same size, Harry had absolutely no doubt at all that Vic would look every bit as captivating as Fleur had looked in the same dress. He suddenly remembered the way Aunt Muriel had commented on how low cut Ginny's golden bridesmaid dress had been that he started blushing.

Albus gave him a look before coughing loudly once. "Hmm…Oh. Right, I still remember that dress, the design was really simple but rather elegant. How about you, Teddy? Have you gotten your dress robes?"

Unexpectedly, Teddy's lovesick expression morphed into a defeated sigh.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait, which was mainly due to a minor case of writer's block and a trip that I hadn't written anything for more than two weeks. I wasn't planning to update until next week originally but then I realized this would represent the first time I have not updated at all within a calendar month. As slow as I have been lately, I'm not ready to let that happen, especially because you've been so lovely to me. I haven't edited this as much as I'd have wanted and I know the cutoff point is awkward but it's the best I could do considering the circumstances.

This fic has passed 40000 views so again, I'd love to do a big group shout out. Thank you to kahn1969, Sharklove9999, HogwartsDreamer113, Scorpiusisthebest, JennH, Ronnie Jane, Criis46, wrestlingfanforever, womenwrestling010, HELENz and special shout out to Jane. I truly appreciate all kind of support but it's all thanks to you lovely people who have commented that I could keep working despite my frustration, tiredness and insecurity. (A more personal message to Jane because I can't PM guest reviewer: your comment absolutely made my day and I truly don't mind constructive criticisms. I don't disagree that the boys might act too childlike at times. A less bubbly Scorpius is completely valid but honestly, almost every character has been difficult for me to write at some point because I've so little in common with most of the characters, especially teenager boys. I like to show their excitement because I feel like they didn't get much a chance to be carefree in their early years in Hogwarts that in a way, they're trying to make up for lost time. There's no formality about a comment/review here that you're welcome to write any way you want as long as it's appreciative or constructive.)

It'll probably be another longer wait for next chapter because I only have so little of it written right now. Thank you so much again and please comment.


	52. Wedding Dress Robes

"Well, there were a few robes I've tried that looked pretty good but…" his godson eyed his grandmother a little nervously and seemed glad to see that Andromeda was completely engaged in her conversation with Ginny, "I know that I have never known him… but I really want to wear something from my dad on my wedding day, to make sure that he will be a part of it… Even though it's the same with my mum, Gran will be there so in a way I feel like my mum will be represented." Harry, who had secretly placed his invisibility cloak inside an inside pocket of his wedding dress robes for the same reason, could certainly relate to Teddy's sentiments. Had he had her mother's blanket in his possession at the time of his wedding, he would certainly had brought it with him as well.

"Unfortunately, for all Gran knows, my dad seemed to only have three sets of robes at the time of his death, the one he had on that night, which could not be salvaged that they had to dress him in another set of robes out of his humble collection when he was buried, and the last one which was given to me as a sort of keepsake. It had already been very shabby and patched everywhere when I first laid eyes on it that even Aunt Molly could not perform her miracles on it. The option to transform it into a piece of cloth had been brought up but there's so little of it that the resulting cloth would be too small for a whole set of robes that the best we could do is to stitch it somewhere on the dress robes, most likely on the back, that I don't think it'd be worth it because the change would be irreversible. And of course, it had been a war time wedding that my parents had opted out of getting rings at the time."

The dress robes in the wizarding world, with the notable exception of the lace robes Ron had worn to the Yule Ball in their fourth year, tended to be very simple (and dull in Harry's opinions) in design, that even those worn in weddings looked mostly plain on their bodies except for the occasional details on the sleeves, collar or a hood. Harry's mind drifted towards the Muggle suits before he frantically took out his phone to search for a picture.

"What are you doing, Harry? Are you trying to... show me something?" Teddy was very confused to see his godfather urgently taping on the Muggle phone. Being so close with the Potters, he was significantly more knowledgeable than the average wizard about Muggle technologies but had only tried using a phone himself a handful of times.

Because Harry had never been particularly exposed to Muggle etiquette and he had never actually worn a formal Muggle suit, it took him a few minutes to find what he was looking for but he eagerly shoved the still Muggle image of a pocket square seemingly casually yet artistically folded into a suit pocket to Teddy, "This is a Muggle thing but I think if done right, even a piece of cloth cut directly from a shabby robe won't look too bad as a… hmm what is it, a p-pocket square. This way you won't need to transform the whole set of robes into cloth and it could easily be stitched right back onto the original robes after the ceremony."

Teddy's eyes lighted up the moment he registered what he was looking at. "This is brilliant, Harry! Thank you so much, I'm sure Aunt Molly would not have any difficulty in altering the robes I end up deciding even if the store won't make a pocket." Robes designers could be rather similar to fashion designers in the Muggle world that they did not always take requests well, especially ones which would change their beloved designs.

A thought came up to Harry but he was not sure if it was the right thing to ask, but surely it was the thoughts behind a gesture that mattered the most, right?

"Hmm, Teddy?"

"Yes." His godson's look of elated excitement changed into one of slight confusion, he asked when he saw that Harry seemed to struggle to find his words, "What is it?"

"A-About your robes… if you would like to wear something of sentimental values, I'm wondering… it's absolutely fine if this is not something you want, but what I mean is, you're welcome to wear my wedding dress robes if you like. You're a bit taller than me but that set of robes is of rather good quality and I'm sure a store or Molly won't have much of a problem altering it to fit your si…" Harry remembered his dress robes had a much longer train than his regular work robes. He stopped talking as he saw that Teddy was openly gaping at him in silence.

"Sur-" Teddy began cautiously after failing to say anything for half a minute, "Surely you'd like to save it for James… or Albus for that matter?"

"Well, knowing James, I'm sure that he'd much rather get the latest, most expensive make he… or we could afford by the time he would get married. Even if he… they" Harry amended as he gave Albus a look, "would like to wear their old man's twenty-plus-year-old robes on their wedding day, surely it could be altered again after your wedding."

Still, Teddy seemed to be trying very hard to control his excitement as he gave James, who was now talking with Vic and Lily, an anxious look. "I'd love to… but…"

"If you really worry about this so much, why don't we just call James over to ask him?" asked the impatient Albus. "For your information, I certainly don't care about what I'd wear on my wedding day, that's, if I'm ever getting married at all."

Harry's heart sank a little at his son's pessimistic statement regarding his future marriage, surely he would want to have his own family someday? But then, he certainly did not remember thinking much about marriage himself when he had been fourteen years old either. Teddy, for his part, let out a nervous laugh before saying, "You're right, Albus, I'd prefer to hear it from James about whether he would mind for me to wear Harry's wedding robes."

Harry was about to call out for James but his eldest son had already turned towards them at the mention of his name, "Are you talking about me?"

"Would you mind coming over, James?" James was standing in front of them within a second.

"What's it? You guys are making me nervous."

"We're talking about Teddy's wedding, James. I'd like to lend him my old wedding dress robes but I need to know if this is okay for you or would you prefer for me to save them for you."

"No offense, dad, but by the time I'm getting married, your robes would be almost _thirty_ years too old. You _did_ look good in them in the pictures but I'd far rather get something chic and special for myself."

His son turned towards Teddy, "The robes are all yours, Ted." He then said more to himself than to his family, "I've never realised how sentimental my brothers are, first it's Albus with his Nimbus 2000 and now it's you. Are you really sure that you want such an old set of robes though? I mean, it's an once-in-a-lifetime excuse for you to _indulge_."

Teddy answered firmly, "I'm absolutely sure that I would love to wear Harry's robes." His godson gave Harry a look of such love and respect that he could feel his heart burst, he could not imagine how he would feel one day when one of his own children would be getting married. But then Teddy seemed to remember something as Harry saw a look of doubt replacing his resolve. "But Harry?"

Teddy's nervousness was certainly making him uneasy. "Yes? What's wrong?"

"Are you really sure that it's okay for me to alter the robes to add a pocket? Because resizing them to fit me is one thing, adding the pocket would change the design and I'm not sure if that'd be a reversible change?"

Harry had to laugh at this, "Of course I wouldn't mind! I wouldn't have suggested it if I have a problem with it." He placed his hands on his godson's shoulders, which did not feel as much like the fatherly gesture it was meant to be because he actually had to reach up slightly to do so. "I would be very proud to see you dressed in them and it'll be an honour for me to see a piece of Remus attached to them. Your father would be extremely proud of the wonderful young man you have become."

Despite having grown up as an orphan, Teddy had always been a remarkably optimistic boy that even Harry had rarely ever seen his godson cried, so he was genuinely alarmed to see the ever cheerful metamorphmagus blinked rapidly for a few times before him pulling his godfather in for yet another embrace. As he remembered that night when Remus happily hugged him at Shell Cottage before asking him to be Teddy's godfather, he allowed himself to believe that he had done the best job he could possibly do. At least he had surely never failed his godson the way he had failed his own son, who appeared rather pleased to be hugged by his emotional godbrother himself immediately after Teddy had finally released Harry.

* * *

Harry was totally expecting to see Albus waiting for him to cook breakfast together while holding a mug of milk in his hands when he arrived at the living room at eight forty-five on Easter Sunday that he was pleasantly surprised to find it empty.

A part of him was very glad to think that his son was possibly still sleeping soundly past eight for once. Another part of him had enjoyed those breakfast cooking sessions with Albus so much that he was actually tempted to check in on Al just to see if it would be possible for them to cook together again. He understood completely that letting his troubled son sleep peacefully was what any good father should do but one could never fully control his heart.

Harry felt ashamed to admit to himself how difficult it was for him to suppress that temptation to wake up the boy for his personal gratification that they would be bonding through family activities the way other fathers and sons would do easily, including the Malfoys with the building of their Pygmy Puffs' house. He had to remind himself that Albus sleeping normally without being plagued with nightmares was his biggest wish at the moment and in fact, the ultimate goal he had been working so hard towards. In addition, there would be plenty of time left in the day for him to spend with Al, despite the inevitable presence of his other family members and later the entire extended Weasley family, which sometimes caused him to struggle to say anything to his son.

He found himself distractedly looking up every few seconds while preparing the ingredients but once he started cooking, he focused all his attention into getting things right that it was easy to forget his longing to spend time with Albus. Partly to distract himself and partly to make the best use of the occasion, he decided to cook a fancier version of egg toast, the kind in which he had to cut a hole in the middle of a slice of bread in which he pour the egg, which was a bit tricky for him to teach a beginner like Albus. Harry's version, which was Ginny's all-time favourite breakfast, also included diced tomatoes, bacon bits with some cheese. The toast would be golden brown, buttery and crispy, the egg white would be soft but not burned, the yolk would be intact and not liquidy when broken and the melted cheese would form a perfect caramelised crust. He did not really remember who did it (he believed it to be James) but someone had christened the dish Ginny's special many years ago.

Ginny was the first among his families to be woken up by the appetising aroma of his cheesy egg toast, "Ah, I've guessed right." She reached a hand towards the skillet on the stove as if she was going to pick up the toast directly but was blocked protectively by him. He slided the toast onto a plate before handing it to her. She was about to pick it up when she moved over to put the plate on the dining table instead, "I'll wait for the kids." She placed a temperature-regulating spell on the dish, which somehow could even preserve the texture of a dish for hours, before returning to his side.

"Are you sure you want to wait to have breakfast together with the kids? It's been a while since I last cooked Ginny's special and I could totally make you a second helping after if you don't want them teasing you for eating too soon, it's not like you can't finish another one." Despite having retired from her team for fifteen years, even Harry could not fully fathom how Ginny could still eat as if she was training ten hours a day yet maintaining most of her Chaser's muscles. She only eat that much sometime but she was undoubtedly a Weasley through and through.

"Nah, I like my Ginny's special but I like watching my very focused husband more." Harry could feel himself blushing but he tried to look as impassive as he could while carefully cracking an egg right into the hole of the bread slice. The skillet was only big enough for one toast at a time. While he could cook a few toasts at once with the help of magic, he found them to taste better when he took the time to cook them one-by-one.

Unexpectedly, his wife let out a deep sigh, "How much do I have to pay to hire you as my full-time chef?"

"What in Dumbledore's name are you talking about? I do all the cooking here."

"True, but don't you know the meaning of 'full-time'? Did I tell you about that time when no one remembered to order Muggle takeout and we ran out of everything that I had to cook eggs for the kids? I've never been so humiliated in my entire life." It had been two summers ago and James had made sure to tease his mother every chance he had gotten till this day. Since then, Harry had always made sure to stock up on Muggle canned soups and frozen dinners so his family would not "starve to death" as James had helpfully put it.

Harry cleared his throat, "You might have mentioned it once or twice."

Ginny's lip curled into a mischievous smile, "At least I can ask my talented boy Albus to cook eggs for me if this ever happens again." Harry thought his son would likely be too shy to cook for his siblings on his own that he did not say anything in return.

As if she was reading his mind, she said, "He just need to build up his confidence that's all and I've seen James talking with Albus much more these days so I don't think he'll give Al a hard time if he does cook for us. I think there's something really likable about boys… or men ..." She playfully squeezed his arm and said, "who can cook. Who knows, maybe Albus will even try to cook with Scorpius sometime, that sounds like a fun thing to do at their sleepover."

This reminded Harry that they had arranged with Draco for Albus to have his sleepover at the Malfoy Manor on Tuesday. He would likely have to work overtime again on the first few days following a holiday that Albus would not miss much at home to be gone for two days. Normally, he could not see teenage boys cooking for fun at sleepovers but Albus and Scorpius had rarely behaved like other teenage wizards either as he remembered Scorpius' excitement when he had recounted receiving a bread recipe book from Rose as a Christmas present.

"Speaking of which, I'm actually a bit surprised that Albus is not up cooking with you again. He's been waking up early every day since he's been ba..."

Harry did not have time to digest the information because they were interrupted by his eldest son.

"Morning, mum and dad!" James cried out cheerfully. He walked over to pick up one of the plates and dramatically breathed in the smell of the finished egg toast. "May I just take a moment to express my heartfelt appreciation for your wonderful cooking skills, dad? A day is always off to a good start when you cook breakfast."

"That's flattering, did you use up your allowances again?" Harry answered drily.

James pressed a hand onto his chest and feigned a hurt expression. "What do you take me for, dad? You _know_ how much better your homemade breakfasts are comparing to cereals and bread rolls. I just thought that I haven't told you enough what an amazing dad and role model you've been to me."

There was an amused smirk on Ginny's face, "James, cut it out."

"Fine, I just want to take the opportunity to give you two a few helpful suggestions regarding my upcoming birthday present."

Ginny let out a hearty laugh, "Good one, James. You do remember it's tradition to give you a watch on your seventeenth birthday, right?"

James had seen Teddy and each of his older cousins acquired their watches so he had definitely been aware of the tradition but it was obvious from the way his son had visually deflated that he had completely forgotten about it. "Oh, that doesn't mean you can't give me an additional present though?"

"Well, I thought you wouldn't want us to be thrifty when it comes to your watch. I mean, you'll be wearing the watch for many years to come." Ginny flashed her wrist watch, which she had been wearing since her seventeenth birthday despite its hand-me-down status, towards their disappointed son.

"I suppose you have a point…"

Harry had just done cooking and placing the toasts on separate plates. He walked over to hand his son the remaining plates to take over to the dining room so he could clean up the kitchen, he whispered to James' ear when he was next to him, "Let me know what you like some other time." His son gave him a fleeting hopeful look.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "James, you might as well say it out loud here. Harry, I know you love your kids but you should make him work hard for an extra present, or at least beg harder." James and Harry both looked embarrassed to be called out by Ginny and had unconsciously hung their heads a little.

"Good morning everyone!" Lily took in the scene of the kitchen before saying. "Dad, James, what did you two do this time?"

* * *

A/N: Thank you kahn 1969, Ronnie Jane, Criis46, HogwartsDreamer113, Scorpiusisthebest, AxelsFire96 and JennH for commenting, you're all amazing. I really enjoyed writing Teddy with Harry, who had always meant to reflect each other as orphans with a godfather. I know Harry wears a three-piece-suit on stage but I'm not a fan of how Muggle-looking his work clothes look like so I'm just gonna pretend that's not what he wears. I've no idea why I keep coming back to write about breakfast and why I spend so much time writing about food, haha. Second half of the chapter was completely unplanned but then again, it feels like most of the chapters these days are "unplanned" to me.

Every comment means the world to me ;)


	53. Easter Morning

The four of them were all sitting around the dining table with a mouthwatering plate of Ginny's special in front of each of them. There was another plate in front of an empty seat next to James'.

Lily was the one who voiced out the questions everyone was thinking, "Should we wait for Al to come down too? Or should we just call him?"

While it had never been an official family tradition for the family to all eat breakfast together on Easter Sunday the way they did on Christmas day before opening presents, it was something they had done every year without fail that somehow it felt wrong for them to leave Albus to eat alone when he woke up later.

"Of course we should wake him up! Remember the way he had rudely woken all of us up before eight on Christmas day just so he could get to the Malfoys' as early as possible? It's time for him to get a taste of his own potion."

James had already made to get up from his seat when Ginny stopped him. "James, don't wake your brother up."

"Why, mum? It's nine-twenty, I knew he didn't go to sleep late yesterday, he most definitely has slept enough."

"That you don't know." She replied with a frown on her forehead.

"W-What do you mean? I don't understand."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other for a moment before a silent agreement was reached. She gave him an encouraging nod.

"A-Albus… hasn't been sleeping well lately." Despite thinking it was time to tell his other kids at least a little about what Al had been experiencing lately, Harry was not sure how he should phrase it and how much he should reveal.

"You mean he can't fall asleep? Or he keeps waking up in the middle of the night?" James was looking both concerned and confused.

"Hmm… he sort of wakes up in the middle of the night..."

"You mean, he has nightmares." Surprisingly, it was Lily who spelled things out.

"You knew, Lily?" It was so rare for Ginny to be surprised by her kids.

"I-I might have heard him crying and screaming in his sleep a coup…" She trailed off but everyone understood completely.

They were all silent for an uncomfortable ten seconds despite the delicious food laid ignored. James let out a nervous laugh, "Surely it can't be too bad? I mean, My room is next to his too and I've never been woken up by h-his sounds." The others remained silent because they knew that James was such a heavy sleeper that he very well could have remained sound asleep even if Albus had been screaming his head off next door.

Harry thought this was quite a melancholic start to an Easter morning. Ginny seemed determined to turn things around as she clapped her hands once and said brightly, "We should just start eating ourselves and let Albus sleep as much as he likes. James, Lily, I'm sure you two are hungry. Albus' plate has been charmed so it'll taste as delicious as it does now by the time he comes down."

Their children started eating somewhat reluctantly after exchanging an uneasy look between themselves. Harry was both relieved and disappointed to hear uneven footsteps walking down the stairs after he had taken just one bite. His youngest son was absent-mindedly yawning with groggy and half-opened eyes while his hair was an untamed beast standing in all directions. There could be no mistake that Albus had indeed slept in instead of just staying in his room after waking up for some unknown reason. The boy took in the scene in the dining room, blinked twice, closed his eyes purposefully then opened them and looked at them blankly some more without uttering a single word.

"Oh, You're all up and eating breakfast already." Albus talked in a monotone after having been standing there in a prolonged silence. His family around the table was all looking towards each other with a dozen questions on their minds because they were not sure what Al was thinking about and what they should do next. Could Albus be thinking that his family had intentionally left him out?

"Good morning, Albus! Come over here and have breakfast with us." It was Ginny who called out as if the family had not just been discussing about the boy's secret (was it a secret?)just three minutes ago.

Albus dragged himself across the floor almost as if he was sleep-walking. "Oh, we're having Ginny's special today, why didn't you wake me up? You know I wouldn't want to miss out."

His son did not ask accusedly and he did not even know who he had meant by "you" but Harry answered immediately, "We noticed that you're still sleeping so we thought we should just let you sleep since you've been-" Albus suddenly looked wide awake with his gaping eyes as if he was daring Harry to talk about his nightmares in front of his siblings, "waking up so early every day lately."

Albus' eyes relaxed, which meant that they reverted to their groggy, half-opened "normal" state, as he let out a relieved breath, "Oh yeah, it feels quite nice to be able to sleep in once in a while. I-I don't know why I'm always waking up early a-and couldn't get back to sleep these days." He walked over to his usual seat and sat down before immediately lifting the toast up to bite on it.

"Al?" Harry could immediately felt his heart beating hearing his daughter calling her brother, dreading what she would say to him next.

"Ye-yes, w-what is it, Lily?" Albus talked while chewing his mouthful of bread, which would have irritated Ginny enough for her to call him out for it normally but she, like Harry, was looking rather preoccupied at the moment.

"Nothing… I mean, happy Easter."

The boy swallowed before answering, "Oh right, it's Easter. Happy Easter to you too Lily…" he turned to look around the table, "and to you all too."

Everyone murmured "happy Easter" in return but throughout breakfast, there was still an awkward air around despite how both he and Ginny made an effort to maintain a light conversation, which made Harry wonder if he should have held back the information about Albus' nightmares. In his defense, he had had no way to know that his son would have gotten down so soon after on his own and it had felt wrong to hide everything from his other children, not to mention they, or more accurately, James could very well have known it on his own, as Lily had already known.

At one point when Al was halfway through his toast, he turned towards his brother with a raised eyebrow, "Eat your breakfast, James! Why are you staring at me like that?" He added after a beat, "Why are you all acting so weird this morning?"

* * *

The Easter gathering at the Burrow was significantly different from the Christmas gathering even though both were rare occasions for the whole extended Weasley family to meet. One of the bigger differences was the unofficial tradition for the children to take advantage of the warmer spring weather to fly or practice Quidditch a bit at the orchard where Harry himself had played Quidditch with Ron and the twins in his Hogwarts years, during the off time after lunch when everyone was just hanging out. When this had first started back when the oldest children had just started in Hogwarts, they had been contented to use whatever ancient broomsticks the broom shrek could offer but as more of the kids had become more proficient in flying or had even gotten into the school team, they had understably become more serious in their crafts and would choose to bring their own broomsticks instead.

Gone were the days when the name Weasley would automatically associate a child with ginger hair (the half-French Weasley girls had inherited Fleur's Veela blonde hair, Bill's son Louis had strawberry blonde hair and both of George's children had black hair) and hand-me-down school supplies. All of Harry's brothers-in-law were pretty well-off financially that it pleased them to provide for their children, especially quality racing broomsticks that they could not have afforded for themselves when they had been in school, even though those among them who had played Quidditch had all been excellent players without the best broomsticks. Because of this, the Easter gathering provided the perfect opportunity for the children to showcase their broomsticks and since the start of the school year, James had been looking forward to show off his Firebolt in front of their whole family. Therefore, it did not come as a surprise for Harry to see his eldest son dressed in full gear and his red and gold Quidditch uniform with his Firebolt held high when he appeared in front of the Floo.

Albus, on the other hand, was just wearing his casual outfit without holding his broomstick, even Lily was beamingly holding her Nimbus 2005.

"Albus, don't you want to show off your new broomstick at the Burrow?" Harry had no idea what James was thinking about while asking the question because his eldest son had made it quite obvious before that he did not think too much of the thirty-year-old model but he could not detect any malicious intention or a joke in his question at all.

"No, I'm good. I told you I'm not a Quidditch player, I'll probably just stay at the house. If I go, I can just watch you all play."

"But you can't not play, it's our family tradition!"

"In that case, it's been tradition for me to _not_ join the game."

"Come on, we never have a good Keeper among us before, it'd be so helpful for us to have a real Keeper this time instead of us Chasers and Beater taking turns to play as Keeper."

"Since when have I been a _real_ Keeper? And didn't you say that you don't want me to join the Slytherin team? I can't guarantee I won't get tempted if I play enough time."

"If you end up joining the Slytherin team, it may be harder for our team to win but it's always much more rewarding to win a challenging game than an easy game. Besides, what do you take me for, Albus? Winning the Quidditch Cup isn't the most important thing for me, it's about the whole family having a friendly game for once in the year."

"That's really quite nice of you but honestly, I'm still a bit sore from our game two days ago." To Albus' credit, he had been remarkably patient with his brother without getting annoyed when he would have asked James to shut up basically as soon as the conversation had started in the past.

It took another ten minutes of James' nagging and some gentle persuasion in Lily's part to finally get Albus to reluctantly carry his Nimbus 2000 into the fireplace.

As expected, James was the first one to floo to the Burrow, followed by Lily, Albus, Ginny and lastly, Harry. By the time Harry arrived at the Burrow, he could immediately tell that it was his non-Quidditch player nieces and nephews, as well as Angelina and George, who paid the most attention to James' Firebolt because James' Quidditch teammates Fred and Roxanne had seen the broomstick countless times and had even tried flying on it. Charlie, the other former Quidditch captain in the house, however, was completely engrossed in Albus' Nimbus 2000.

"... never flown on a Nimbus 2000 before, but this is _amazing_ for twenty Galleons. In my opinions, only the Seeker and Chasers really need the fastest broomsticks. But of course this is all the broomstick business' doing, to make all school kids believe that they need professional grade broomsticks and getting the best broomsticks would automatically make them good flyers." Charlie slapped on Albus' back approvingly, Harry could tell from the way Al jerked forward that he was winded by how forceful the dragon handler's slap was. "Good for you for keeping your feet on the ground, Albus."

"I-I just don't really care about playing Quidditch, so this is way more than enough for casual flying."

"I can't say I'm too happy to hear that another of our own," Charlie looked meaningfully towards Percy's daughters Molly and Lucy, who were both sitting straight listening to their father bragging to Arthur about another boring new regulation he had been working on and who had always reminded Harry of a pair of forty-year-old women trapped in the bodies of young adults, "don't care about playing Quidditch but at least I've learnt from my reliable source that it's more a personal preference than a lack of talent."

As usual, Albus looked very uncomfortable being complimented, especially by a skilled Seeker who had not seen him played himself. Luckily, everyone including Charlie was distracted by the sudden activation of the Floo.

The Granger-Weasleys was the only family who had not arrived and Rose was the first to appear at the Floo. She called out a general "Happy Easter" to everyone while looking around the whole room, before rolling her eyes at James, "Really? You seriously feel the need to dress in your uniform, _captain_?"

"Considering this is the first time I'll be flying the Firebolt at the Easter gathering here, _absolutely_."

"As if you can fly at one-twentieth, actually, more like one-hundredth its maximum speed at the orchard. Well, whatever you say, _captain_." At this point she turned around to see Albus' new broomstick. "So James was right, you _did_ get a Nimbus 2000!" She walked over to Albus with her hands hovering over the broomstick after placing her own broomstick by the wall, she looked unsure as she said slowly while giving the broomstick a once-over, "T-This isn't what I expected…"

"Did you expect it to be all beaten up and broken or did you expect me to get the newest Nimbus 3100?" Albus clearly did not take her words well.

Rose was blushing as she retracted her hands, "I just didn't expect it to look so nice because I heard it was a bargain deal and knowing you, I would never think you'd have gotten the newest Nimbus at all… I suppose the most I was expecting was a Nimbus 2500 or the newest Cleansweep."

Albus' look softened and the edge of his voice disappeared when he replied, "I never thought I'd say this but… you seem to know me better than I expected." Harry knew that Al did not intend to make him feel bad but thinking about how hard he had tried to make Al get one of the newest broomsticks, he could not help feeling frustrated that he clearly did not know his son well at all.

Rose let out a sad laugh, "Well, we used to be best friends."

"Hmm… we're still good frien…"

"Happy Easter, Weasleys!" Ron cried out happily as he stepped out the fire place, he did not even wait for any response as he exclaimed, "Albus, is this a Nimbus 2000 you're holding? It looks exactly the same as Harry's from what, has it been thirty years ago?"

Albus let his excited uncle, whose excitement was reminding Harry strongly of his father-in-law's reaction whenever he saw a new Muggle product, picked his broomstick up for an inspection, while giving Rose a friendly smile.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter with not much happening but it could be fun to see a bit more of the other characters. I believe Rose was still Al's closest cousin but a part of Albus would never be able to forget their first few years in Hogwarts and would always remain a little wary of her.

Thank you Ronnie Jane, HogwartsDreamer113, AxelsFire96 and JennH for commenting again. Sorry that I've been constantly distracted that I actually ended up writing even less than normally, but it's all thanks to your support that I'd feel the motivation to write at all despite feeling so tired and disappointed in myself. I've two exams coming up within two weeks so I won't be able to update until at least mid December. Please comment.


	54. A Mother's Grief

Harry, along with his brothers-in-law, set up the marquee at the garden just as they had done during the Christmas gathering even though the weather was looking nice at the moment. If there was anything they knew about the weather in England, it was that it could rain at any moment even if the sun was shining brightly. Everyone was present and Molly's meal was looking as delicious as ever, it would have been the perfect meal if the Easter Sunday had not fallen on the fourth of April this year, mere three days after April's Fool Day, which was also Fred and George's birthday.

Because of the unpredictable nature of the holiday, the mood of Harry's mother-in-law could be drastically different from year to year depending on how close the actually holiday was to the twins' birthday. Based on his observation, Harry believed that it was generally safe when the day was three days or more before the birthday or seven or more days after, Molly's grief would be at her worst when it was within three days after the birthday. None of the Easter had ever been as bad as 2018, when Easter Sunday had happened to fall on _the_ day, first of April.

George would always make sure to spend some time with Molly on his birthday, a time that was emotionally draining and difficult for the both of them that in Harry's mind, it seemed more like a cruel punishment than a celebration for his poor brother-in-law, who had never truly had a "Happy Birthday" since the day his twin had died. On the one hand, George deserved to have a good time on his birthday but on the other hand, everyone, including George himself and especially Molly, could never forget Fred's death on this particular day seeing the lone twin getting older, which made any celebration awkward and wrong. Of course Molly would make the effort to bake George a cake and prepare or buy a birthday present for him, and they had even made a promise between themselves to try to make the day a happy one _for Fred_ and for themselves, but as uncharacteristic as this had been for the former prankster, George would always end up crying with Molly at some point. Sadly, Harry had learned from Ginny that the little bit of crying could never compare to Molly's inevitable breakdown the moment George had flooed away from his childhood home. They all pretended not to know but it had been common knowledge that Molly always prepared an identical present which would immediately join a "secret" pile she had hidden.

On an ill-timed Easter like this, Molly's puffy eyes would still be painfully obvious for all to see and seeing her extended family gathering together always reminded her more of her loss. In moments like these, Harry could not help feeling sad thinking about how much Molly had aged over the past twenty years.

Unfortunately for George, there had been times over the years on Easter Sunday when she would avoid looking at him, bravely looked at him with tears in her eyes or worst of all, took a fleeting look at him before running out of the room. Molly had gotten much better at handling George's birthday and Easter for the last eight years or so (except 2018 of course), but with the discovery of Voldemort's daughter, almost end of this peaceful world and almost loss of Albus, she was reasonably on the more emotional side of the spectrum this year that after she had abruptly left her family halfway through lunch, it had taken both Arthur and Ginny to comfort her and lure her back to finish the meal, while George stayed seated with a forlorn look and everyone else trying hard to talk about anything but the elephant in the room.

Everyone seemed to let out a sigh of relief when they were finally done with the meal that Molly stood up and took her wand out to start clearing up the dishes. Ginny, who had been sitting just two seats away from Molly, was immediately at her side. She gently placed her hands on Molly's shoulders and said, "Let us take care of that, mum. You've worked the whole morning, you should go back inside the house and rest."

"That's sweet of you, Ginny dear, but you know that I can't trust you with my dishes, when you barely ever enter your own kitchen. Not to mention, I'm not really tired. There's no reason for you all to pamper me. You all should go back in or go play Quidditch or hang out at the orchard and have a good time."

Harry, who had stood up immediately following Molly but had stayed put, walked over as Ginny signaled him by giving him a sharp look. "Molly, sure you'd trust me to clean up instead?" He added while looking around the table to check who else was ready to help, "You see, Bill, Percy and Ron are ready to h… Albus, what are you doing up?"

His son mumbled, "I-I th-think I should h-help out too. I'm not that interested in playing Quidditch so I can stay to help instead."

Harry was torn between feeling moved by his son's thoughtfulness and disappointed that Albus might still be trying to get away from playing Quidditch but before he could react, Molly had taken three big steps before pulling her grandson in for a suffocating embrace.

"My sweet, sweet boy. You're just like your father when he was young. So considerate and so brave… " Harry could tell Molly was thinking about Albus' ordeals in the hands of Delphi again but he cringed hearing her comparing Albus to himself, a big taboo of Al's. She even planted a kiss on the boy's forehead. "What would we have done if we lost you too?"

The word "too" was said normally but Molly might as well had shouted the word. Harry could not bring himself to look at George because it was obvious what she meant was "What would we have done if we lost you _like Fred_ too?" It was a normal thing for Molly to think but certainly not the easiest thing for the surviving twin to hear out loud so soon after their birthday, especially after Molly's emotional reaction during the meal. Harry had had enormous admiration for his brother-in-law for his patience and tolerance in dealing with Molly's grief for the past twenty-three years when the twin's loss could have arguably been worse for George than Molly having lost the other half of himself.

There was a frown on Al's face as she resumed hugging him after the kiss, his son was obviously feeling uncomfortable to be hugged and kissed in front of his entire extended family and to be reminded of the Time-Turner incidents yet again after half a year.

At long last, Molly let go of him and said, "You're such a wonderful boy, Albus, but your uncles and I can take care of these, you go play Quidditch with your siblings and cousins." Ginny did not look too pleased being distrusted while Harry was not surprised to be excluded in cleaning duty, Molly had always declined his help in chores (at least initially) for almost thirty years after all.

"But I…"

"Besides, you're still underage so your uncles can take care of it much faster with magic."

"I guess you're right…" Albus agreed begrudgingly.

Harry had never seen anyone looking as bummed not to be able to help cleaning things up instead of playing Quidditch. Molly patted Albus on his head so affectionately the way one patted on a small child instead of a teenager, which was a bit awkward because even though Al was as tall as a twelve-year-old, he was not _that_ much shorter than the very short Molly Weasley. But of course, all her children and especially her grandchildren, would always be babies for the Weasley matriarch.

Having witnessed Albus' attempt in getting away from Quidditch, James seemed to take it upon himself to escort Al back into the house to pick up their broomsticks and to the orchard, with Rose and Lily tailing behind them having a fun little chat, or so Harry thought before he overheard Lily while ignoring Molly's order in clearing the tables and chairs with his brothers-in-law, "You'll see, I'll defeat you and get into the team next year."

"I don't think so… but you know what, Rox's graduating this year so there will be a spot, you may get to join the team after all."

* * *

"I mean it this time, Harry." Ginny said with determination as she finally left the house to join Harry, Charlie, George and Ron on their way to the orchard to watch the kids played.

"Sure, just like you said the hundred other times before, you need to learn just enough about cooking and cleaning so Molly will stop apologising to me and stop kicking you out of her kitchen."

Harry tried very hard to suppress his laugh, Ginny might be fierce and remarkably stubborn normally but cooking and cleaning might be her biggest weakness. Molly always apologised to Harry for Ginny's "fault", which naturally meant her inability to cook and clean, whenever the couple would visit and dine at their home. This always irritated Ginny even though she could not truly argue against her knowing how useless she was in the kitchen and Harry always respectfully disagreed with Molly saying Ginny was perfect the way she was and cooking was a big hobby of his. His wife almost always insisted to learn to cook after one of these visits but always gave up within half an hour, sometimes even ten minutes.

"I'm with mum there, Ginny. I'd never have thought that I'd be a better cook than you but here we are." Despite Molly's strange preference for Hermione to Ron in her kitchen, Ron was the one who did all the cooking for his family and was indeed a decent cook despite not being as good as Harry.

Ginny turned to glare at his brother but her expression morphed into one of intense concentration towards the sky. Harry followed her gaze to see Albus throwing an apple back to James.

They had set up a different set of practice goals, which were slightly smaller than the ones used at Harry's garden, at the orchard. Rose was the next person attempting to score and she threw surprisingly fast and hard to the almost amateur that Harry suspected that Albus might have blocked her successfully a few times before. Albus quickly steered his broomstick slightly upward to his left to block the apple with the tail of the broom, which was flying towards the lower right goal. All of the adults stood watching Albus successfully blocking five attempts within five minutes by the different Chasers. This might be the second time Harry seeing his youngest son played Quidditch, he felt every bit as proud and moved as the first time that he could feel his goosebumps again.

"Wow, mate! I can't believe you've never told me how good a keeper Albus is!" exclaimed Ron.

"How could I possibly tell you when Al had never played Quidditch before until two days ago? And he didn't even learn flying properly until last November or so."

"You gotta be joking!"

"Nope"

"Do you think I could defeat him now at a tryout?"

Harry thought this was another poor attempt of humour by his best friend, who had taken so much pride in his brief successful Quidditch "career" and had even sung the "Weasley is our King" song (the Quidditch Final version of course) to his children as nursery rhyme at one point, but one look at his face told him that Ron was dead serious, Harry glanced down towards the poorly concealed belly under his jumper and decided, "Probably no-" he could not finish the word because Ron had just slapped him on his head.

"Don't you dare attacking my husband when he was just being honest with you, Ron. Do you even remember when you have practiced last? Besides, even back in school, you had horrible stage fright and could never perform consistently well."

Harry was a bit disappointed that the siblings' fight broke the children's attention from the game. Even though they resumed the game after greeting the adults, it simply did not feel the same. At least this had never meant to be a proper game because of the size constraint and the odd number of kids who played. Among the shots he had watched, Albus only missed four shots out of over thirty from his siblings and cousins.

"I've decided, Albus. I'll practice at least an hour with you every morning."

"I'm not on your team, James. You've no right to force me to play when I don't want to."

"Come on, it'll be good workout for you. I heard playing Quidditch more can help you grow taller."

"Rea… A-Are you sure?" The boy was obviously excited for it at first but he controlled his excitement as he asked with narrowed eyes.

"Of course, why would I ever lie to you?" Harry could instantly come up with a few reasons.

* * *

Later they all took turns to look at and play with each other's broomsticks. Surprisingly, Albus' Nimbus 2000 was the most popular model out of all, likely out of curiosity or nostalgia, with Ron, Charlie, Rose and George all taken turns to have a go (Al agreed to his cousin's demand with great reluctance and Harry was not surprised in the least.)

George was the last one to fly the broomstick that Harry was the only one waiting for him when he touched down onto the ground while all the other family members had returned to the house, including Albus who seemed to trust his father enough to make sure nothing too bad would happen to his new broomstick.

Harry reached out a hand to receive the broomstick as his brother-in-law handed it to him. " _This_ gives me nostalgia." Harry silently nodded to George's statement thinking he was referring to the Nimbus 2000, which George had tried quite a few times with Harry's back in the days.

"You'd sometimes wait for us to leave the pitch together back in the days as well… back before Umbridge… in a way, you kinda became our little brother instantly when we first met you... or perhaps, when you first joined the team, that's when Freddie and I truly got to know you better… as yourself instead of as the friend of our brother… or as _the_ Harry Potter." For the second time within two hours, Harry got goosebumps, but for entirely different reason this time. The twin had never talked to him about Fred before and he could feel his throat tighten shut that he was completely mute at the moment. Harry did not know if he should consider it fortunate that George did not really need him to make any response.

"Is it bad to wish that you don't have a birthday? As if I need any reminder that he's gone."

Harry could feel his eyes burn, it took him half a minute to force out the words in his trembling voice, "I-I am s-so sorry, George." It sounded completely inadequate but it did not matter because George appeared to not have heard it.

"What would I give to go back to those days? I can't believe Oliver would make us practice what, was it five times a week? You know what? I'd give anything to go back to serve all those detentions with Freddie. We might have served a thousand hours together and I'd go back to serve every single one of them because those were the best times no matter how dull the work was, he always managed to come up with the best joke about any and everything, and the best prank to pull on Filch. We even managed to prank Snape once… the fifty hours of detention was totally worth it."

Harry was simultaneously dying and too scared to look at George, when he finally braced himself to look up, he expected to see whole track of tear down his face but saw a pair of blank and completely dry eyes instead. His heart broke for the twin because it would have been so much better for him to be crying out loud. Had he tried to suppress his emotion and pain so much that he had forgotten how to cry about it?

George ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh, at this particular angle Harry could get a very clear view of the hole where George's left ear had been, the hole which had been there for almost twenty-four years because of him, Harry Potter. There really was nothing to be said as he pulled him in for a hug and held his brother for a long time.

* * *

Harry was glad that no one asked them any question as they returned inside the house, which he suspected was all thanks to Ginny. He picked up a butterbeer for George, which was received with a "Thanks" and a weak smile, which he could understand was a thank for more than the drink.

The family stayed for another hour before preparing to leave. As per tradition, Molly brought out huge boxes of Easter eggs for each family to take home with, there would be more than a dozen of eggs in each box, with more eggs given for the larger families like Harry's, the eggs were filled with toffee, fudges or different types of chocolate. Ginny had been fighting a losing battle with her sugar ban for a while but all hope was always lost whenever Easter came.

Unexpectedly, Al stood up when Molly handed a box to Harry.

"G-Gran?"

"What is it, Albus darling?"

He blushed while looking down and said, "I-I am wondering… could I have a few more eggs so I co-could send some to Scorpius? I used to share my portion with him but I thought…" He trailed off but Harry understood, the boy was trying his luck remembering how happy Molly had been receiving Scorpius' flowers back on Christmas day.

"Oh, my dear boy, of course I can give you a few more eggs but you should keep them for yourself." Albus looked so happy one second to have his wish granted so easily but his forehead now screwed into a confused frown after hearing the second half of the sentence.

"I've already sent a box of Easter eggs to your friend Scorpius. He's such a well-mannered boy that he even sent me another bouquet of flowers in return and a nice thank-you letter. It just arrived while you're all playing Quidditch, see." She pointed Albus towards a spot on top of the fireplace. Sure enough, there was a colourful bouquet with all different types of flower which looked very similar to but even bigger than the one Scorpius had picked out for Molly during Christmas. There was also an envelope that she had erected in front of the bouquet, the letter had been addressed in beautiful handwriting in green ink.

It took Albus ten seconds to take it in before throwing his arms around his grandmother. "Thank you, gran… this means so much. Scorpius has always loved your sweets."

Molly laughed perhaps the happiest laugh Harry had heard from her on a Easter Sunday, "You're such a wonderful boy, you and your friend both… if you'd told me about him before, I'd have started sending him things much earlier. I haven't forgotten about asking him to visit us at the Burrow, we should talk about it some other time."

Albus nodded in silent content.

Harry had thought about inviting the Malfoys to join the extended Weasley family for big holiday gatherings but again, he worried about how awkward and embarrassed Draco would feel here. The coming gathering at his home would be a good starting point and a test for the future.

* * *

A/N: I started writing this chapter knowing only that I had to get to the part where Albus hugged his grandma, everything along the way could be described as improvisation. The scene with George in particular, was a last-second addition because I felt like it's warranted after spending that time with Molly earlier. I find it almost comical that like my readers, I often go into a chapter feeling just as clueless about what will happen there and would come out feeling surprised. It's a double-edged sword because on the one hand, this makes it a really enjoyable experience for myself to discover the way leading to the end, or the certain checkpoints I planned beforehand, on the other hand, I often lose my sense of direction and get so frustrated not knowing how to continue or get to where I need to be.

I realized the orchard was meant to be where they set up the marquee (at least for Bill's wedding) and the Easter holiday is meant to be only a week long but I'll just pretend otherwise. (I did have two-weeks Easter holiday back when I was in school so it isn't unreasonable to me).

Thanks kahn1969, AxelsFire96, Criis46, Son of Whitebeard, Scorpiusisthebest, Ronnie Jane and HogwartsDreamer113 for commenting, your support always provide me with the best motivation to keep writing. Please comment :)


	55. The Morning Meeting

Harry had been working on average more than eleven hours a day for six days a week for the past half year and he knew very well that he would be working just as much for the foreseeable future. There was simply too much work to do by too few Aurors that he failed to see the point of taking leave knowing he would likely be going back to work anyway that he might as well cashed in a few days (actually more like most of his annual leave). Public holidays were the rare holidays that he could truly be free from his job, except they were always way too short, especially when he had three children with whom he would make the best use of his holiday by going out or visiting family or friends every day that he always felt more exhausted following a holiday.

Harry woke up on Tuesday feeling as if he had slept for a mere ten minutes instead of a healthy six hours, dreading the mountain of tedious paperwork which would inevitably be waiting for him on his desk. He knew he would work happier earning less but on the field instead of being stuck behind a desk most of the time but Hermione needed all the help she could get. Perhaps it would be the right time for him to retire by the time his best friend stepped down as the Minister for Magic (Ginny was right, they did have more than enough to support the rest of their lives what with both his father and Sirius' inheritance, as well as the significant portion of income they had saved over the past twenty years, if they did not squander away their fortune in any unreasonable way).

As tempting as it was to go to work just a little later than usual in the morning, he knew there would be plenty of urgent tasks that needed to be done within the day that leaving late would simply mean returning home later that he might as well leave for work earlier.

Ginny was still fast asleep when Harry went to the bathroom. However, she was awake by the time he went over to say goodbye after getting dressed even though she seemed to be in no hurry to get up. Her hair looked messy and tangled and there was a red sleep mark on one side of her cheek yet she looked utterly perfect to him when she gave him a radiant smile.

"You're leaving so early, are you sure you don't want to get back next to me and stay for half an hour more before leaving?"

"Nah, I'd bet ten Galleons that there'd be no way I could get back before ten even if I leave this second. I'm just hoping that by leaving home earlier, I'd at least be able to see the kids before they go to bed tonight."

Ginny let out a dramatic sigh, "Of course that can't be helped, my devoted husband always working for the greater good of the entire wizarding world."

The family had another cozy evening the night before, Albus and Lily had drunk butterbeer while the rest of the family shared a bottle of mead. Harry certainly had not drunk enough to get hungover but he was starting to wonder if Ginny had drunk a bit too much.

"Surely you can at least help me drop Albus off at the Malfoy Manor, right?" Ginny gave him a dreamy look which could have made him granting her any wish normally.

By now Harry certainly did not mind seeing the Malfoys more than he had expected. In fact, he enjoyed meeting with them but it would be rude for him to leave them immediately after dropping his son off now that they had gotten much friendlier. "I'm not sure that would be a good idea considering I want to return to work as soon as possible, Gin. Knowing Draco, he probably would make me eat a buffet or a four-course breakfast before going back to work…"

Draco had promised to feed Albus all three meals of the coming two days, which Harry strongly suspected would be all buffets. The boys were truly trying to make full uses of their time that Albus had gotten permission to floo to the Malfoy Manor as early as he wanted this time. While Draco had promised that a house-elf would definitely be waiting to receive Albus and notify the masters no matter what time he decided to arrive, Harry was totally expecting both Malfoys to be sitting near the fireplace, waiting for Albus this very moment.

Harry added after taking a look at the clock, which showed that it was seven ten. "And I don't even know if Albus is up yet." He knew very well his flimsy argument likely would not get him anywhere but he was still trying to hold on to the hope of returning home before eleven.

"Well, I will bet ten Galleons that Albus is all dressed and ready, waiting for you at the living room this very second. And you could totally use the buffet because you always forget to eat when you work too hard, remember the time when you fainted at work because you had starved for more than twelve hours _while having a fever_?"

Hermione had notified Ginny that time through her Patronus about two years ago and he could not help being annoyed with his best friend because Ginny had brought that up at least twenty times since then as an excuse to baby him. Being babied by his wife was the last thing any Auror, let alone the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, needed to do his job.

Harry was about to protest again when she added, "Besides, I had just pulled an all-nighter to finish my latest feature so I'm dead tired and not ready to see anybody." She closed her eyes to pretend to go back to sleep. For whatever reason, Ginny preferred to write in the early morning, which had always driven her editor crazy.

Harry let out a defeated sigh. Ginny was such a considerate wife most of the time that he had hardly any reason to complain, and dropping Al off really was not that difficult a task to do as he wondered if he would have the chance of seeing the famous Pygmy Puff house in person. "Fine, I'll drop him off."

Ginny opened her eyes so quickly to give him a spirited and triumphant look that she looked fully awake to him despite the small bags under her eyes, before sitting up to kiss him on his mouth. Well, at least the goodbye kiss was worth it.

Five minutes later, Ginny called out as he was about to leave their room while straightening his robes, "Say hi to Draco and Scorpius for me!"

"Sure, I will." Harry answered automatically before realising the significance of his answer. He wondered how it had happened that the Malfoys had become family friends to him.

* * *

Just as Ginny had predicted, Albus was fully dressed with his new broomstick and school bag by his side by the time Harry got to the ground floor of the house. They had a few bags enchanted with an extension charm but none of them fit a teenager and Harry was not particularly good at the charm that it tended to wear off after one day at most. This seemed like a great idea for a future present for his son but it would have to wait. For now, Albus' own worn and bulky school bag would have to do. Again, there was a mug of milk in front of the boy, who was so focused in the book he was reading that he appeared to have not heard his dad.

"Good morning, Albus." Harry made sure to greet the boy softly that he would not be scared by the sudden intrusion.

He turned and replied with a small smile, "Good morning, dad."

The boy then looked over at the clock and asked with a frown on his forehead, "Are you going in to work already?" His judgemental tone suggested to Harry that his fourteen-year-old was playing parent to himself again. What did it say about him as a father when his son was constantly concerned about his well being?

"Yes." Harry replied instinctively before amending, "No… I mean, I was going to leave for work but I promised your mum to drop you off at the Malfoys' first."

Albus seemed to have forgotten his worry for his dad, "Oh, that's brilliant! I was just wondering if I should wake mum up so I could get to the Malfoys' early." Harry could not help thinking, his son was awfully predictable whenever his best friend was concerned.

"Hmm… I suppose you're all ready to go then?"

"Of course!"

The boy stood up but seemed to reconsider as he sat back down immediately to check his bag. Harry was amazed by how much he had packed for an one-night-sleepover as he saw the boy dragged pajamas, boxes of sweets, his set of chess and other games, books and so on out of his bag, perhaps it had already been enchanted with an extension charm after all.

"Oh… I've forgotten s-something…" Albus seemed embarrassed to admit that he had forgotten something after all, maybe he did not want to delay him going in to work.

"That's no problem at all, go pick up whatever you need… I'll wait for you her-" Harry looked over to the Nimbus 2000, which he had grown to love himself as much as the one that had been broken all those years ago and thought about the inevitable small talk with the Malfoys (not that he disliked them or talking with them) which would undoubtedly further delay his departure for work, he really wanted to return home before midnight on the first day back to work. Maybe he should just head over himself first to get this over with as soon as possible.

Albus was already halfway up the staircase when he called, "Albus, would you mind if I head over first with your bloomstick?"

His son was stopped in his track as he turned to regard him. He narrowed his eyes as he replied, "O-Okay I guess…"

Perhaps Albus did have good reasons to feel suspicious about it but he had resumed going up as he called out. "I'll be back in a minute."

Harry turned to pick up the broomstick. He did not doubt that Albus would return soon knowing how eager he was to spend two whole days with his best friend but it was not like the fourteen-year-old would need any supervision using the Floo so he flooed over without waiting for his return.

* * *

Harry was greeted by two anticipating Malfoys standing less than three feet away from the fireplace the moment he arrived. Scorpius, in particular, even looked a bit breathless and red-faced. It appeared to Harry that the Malfoys might have rushed forward the moment they realised the Floo had been activated. They looked fully awake and properly dressed for the day before seven-twenty Harry had to wonder how long they had been awake and waiting.

Scorpius' face fell for a millisecond there before it rearranged into a bright welcoming smile. Harry noticed that Severus, the pink Pygmy Puff, was sitting comfortably on the boy's right hand while Lavender perched on his left shoulder. The purple Pygmy Puff appeared particularly clingy but it was struggling to cling on Scorpius' collar with her tiny paws.

Scorpius' voice sounded pitchier than usual when he greeted, "Good morning, Mr Potter, I-I thought you were Albus… y-you two really do look similar."

The boy panicked a little as he realised what he had just said that his shoulders jumped, which startled Lavender a little, before him covering his mouth with his free hand, "Oh, please don't tell Albus I said that. He always hates hearing that."

Harry was quick to reassure the boy, "Don't worry, Scorpius, of course I won't tell him… Anyway, Albus will be arriving in a minute."

Scorpius let out a nervous laugh before giving him a grateful smile, "Thanks, Harry, that's brilliant … I mean Mr Potter."

Harry took a step toward the boy before saying patiently, "Scorpius, you do remember me saying that it's okay for you to call me Harry?"

"O-Of course I remember. But I do prefer calling you Mr Potter, it's just that it slips out sometime."

"That's fine, I don't mind either way."

Draco seemed to realise that Scorpius was feeling embarrassed by how awkward he had been behaving and took it upon himself to change the subject, "Good morning, Harry. I thought Ginny was going to bring Albus over."

"Good morning, Draco. I thought she would be too but she's feeling too tired after pulling an all-nighter to finish a piece so I agreed to come over instead, I'm on my way to work anyway." The Malfoys did not have to know that he had tried his best to avoid coming even though it had been nothing personal against them.

"I see, thanks for coming over, and thank you again for letting Albus sleepover here. I really appreciate it." Draco's expression was solemn without a hint of smile, which formed a big contrast comparing to Scorpius' warm but nervous smile, but by now he had known his friend well enough to be able to tell that Draco was being sincere even though he might appear all rigid and formal expressing his gratitude.

Harry sighed, it made him feel uncomfortable to be repeatedly thanked for something that should not have been a big deal at all. "You had already thanked me before, Draco. And I am not doing it just for you and Scorpius, I'm selfish and want my boy to have some fun while I'm slaving away at work too, someone oughts to."

Unfortunately, Draco seemed determined not to let this go easily. "It is something I can't possibly take for granted knowing how much it means for Scorpius… But forgive me, Harry."

He could never get used to Malfoy apologising to him that he responded by flashing a friendly smile that probably looked extremely awkward. He was thus quite relieved when Scorpius chose to come over at this moment. "Oh, Mr Potter, do you want me to take your broomstick? No, I mean Albus' broomstick, his Nimbus 2000."

Scorpius had reached out his free hand toward the broomstick a bit similar to how Rose had reacted when she had first seen the broomstick. Harry noticed the boy seemed extra gleeful with excitement. Draco, however, seemed to notice the broomstick for the first time and there was a certain degree of surprise there even though his face was still relatively impassive. Harry carefully handed the broomstick over to Scorpius, Severus seemed to have noticed that the boy wanted to use both hands that it quickly rolled up Scorpius' arm then rolled across his back to join Lavender at the boy's shoulder. (Harry had absolutely no idea how it was able to do this without falling but the Pygmy Puffs sure felt at home on Scorpius' body). The boy received the broomstick with reverence that it might have been a broomstick belonging to his idol instead of a thirty-year-old model belonging to his best friend.

"I guess Albus had told you that he had gotten a Nimbus 2000 then?"

"Yes!" It was an answer to his question but to the two adults, it sounded like a cheer of excitement that Draco even raised his eyebrow in response.

Noticing his father's reaction, Scorpius coughed once before amending, "I mean, yes. Albus did mention in a letter that he had gotten a Nimbus 2000 and he has agreed to let me give it a go later."

The main reason Harry had some reservations about getting this broomstick for Al was because of how ancient it was. Even though his own brothers-in-law would remember his own Nimbus 2000 with fond memories and would agree that it was still a brilliant broomstick, he had worried about how Albus' schoolmates would react to him getting a thirty-year-old model that he was taken aback that Scorpius, the son of the Slytherin Seeker who had gotten into the house team by buying the whole team the most advanced broomstick of the time, would react so excitedly towards the dated model.

Of course that bribing Slytherin Seeker was not the same person as he had been, but he too was reasonably puzzled by this new knowledge, "You had gotten Albus a Nimbus 2000, Harry? That sounds quite old even for you."

There was nothing teasing, mocking or remotely judgemental in Draco's tone, Harry could tell it was pure curiosity, so he explained patiently, "Yes, I did but for your information, I would gladly had bought a Firebolt for him. It was Albus who picked this broomstick."

"Oh, I see." Draco was not doing a good job masking his confusion but he did not follow up with another question that Harry guessed he was still thinking. _Why would he pick such an ancient broomstick?_

"Scorpius, you don't think a Nimbus 2000 would be a bit too... old for Albus?"

Harry was genuinely interested to know what his son's best friend thought about the broomstick. He was well aware that Scorpius was nothing like Albus' other schoolmates in his year to the point that he might feel happy for Al even if his son had gotten an average Cleansweep broomstick but he hoped to at least gain a little insight.

"No… not at all."

It was obvious that Scorpius was trying hard to come up with a good explanation as he furrowed his brows. "I mean… I was expecting Albus to get perhaps a Nimbus 3000 but somehow… the moment I read that he had gotten a Nimbus 2000, I-I just realised it was the perfect model for him. I don't know how to explain it but even when we do fly together on the school ground these days, Albus isn't one to care about being fast… he really just wanted to prove to himself that he could do it when he tried again last year. I would never forget the look of pure happiness on his face the moment he succeeded after trying and failing for almost ten hours over two weeks." This boy had to be the most supportive friend as evident by his look of pride for his best friend.

"He has never cared about playing Quidditch and what is cool and what others like. More than anything, he prefers to feel normal and just to blend in. If it had been him from a year ago, I probably could not have imagined him getting your old broomstick model but he's a bit different now, perhaps a bit more confident, that he doesn't seem to mind about these things as much. There's something about a Nimbus 2000 that just sounds… right for him."

Harry was struck by a new wave of appreciation for Scorpius Malfoy, this awkward and shy boy who had literally followed his son to the ends of the Earth and had stuck by Albus' side when he had been most alone and helpless, which was more than he could say about himself, who had long naively believed that Al would grow out of his "phase" in time and secretly hoped that he would make other friends (friends who would be more like Ron and Hermione than Scorpius Malfoy) whom he would spend more time with.

Scorpius was observant and had a mature sensitivity to decipher Al's feelings from his observation that it appeared to Harry that the young Malfoy might know his son's heart better than anybody else. Ginny might be Al's mother but Scorpius had the benefits of being inseparable with Albus for nine months of the year and who knew how much of his secrets and feelings Al would willingly reveal to his best friend in his letters.

He suddenly remembered that he had yet to apologise to the boy for mistaking him as the dark cloud. He opened his mouth but closed it again when he remembered Draco was standing right next to the boy. Called him a coward but he would really prefer to apologise in private instead of in a hurry right in front of his former nemesis, not to mention, Albus was due to arrive any second.

He knew that some sort of response was warranted so he replied a bit belatedly, "I see… that's… good to know. Thank you very much, Scorpius."

"You're welcome, Mr Potter." Scorpius gave him a beaming smile.

Harry returned a smile that could not reach his eyes as he asked himself how could this boy be so forgiving and behaved so sweetly towards himself when Scorpius knew that his childhood hero had cruelly tried to separate him from his best and only friend. He noticed the Malfoys exchanging a confused look that they could sense his embarrassment even though they might not know why he was feeling this way, so he asked offhandedly, "Hmm… how about you, Scorpius? I mean, what broomstick do you fly?"

He certainly did not mean to embarrass the boy but unexpectedly, Scorpius blushed as he mumbled a little guiltily even though the boy had no real reason to feel guilty or embarrassed, "I-I fly a F-Firebolt Supreme."

"Oh. That's… nice." Even Harry had not tried a Firebolt Supreme before and he was determined not to show his longing to try the world's fastest broomstick in front of Draco.

"I-It's truly a wonderful broomstick but I've never flown half as fast… actually I believe I've never flown one-twentieth its maximum speed. I've told dad that I could fly his old broomstick but he insisted on getting a new one for me because he said that all Malfoys should have their own broomsticks. I've said that any good Nimbus would do but he insisted on getting this broomstick for me. I haven't even flown it that many times because I did not feel comfortable bringing it to Hogwarts… and I feel kind of bad for owning such an extravagant broomstick because how many Quidditch players would kill to hav..." Scorpius suddenly stopped rambling as he realised he had said way more than he should and revealed a thing or two that his father might not have wanted Harry to know.

Draco appeared very interested in looking at whatever outside the mansion while Scorpius' face had turned into a tomato, Harry was extremely glad to see the Floo activated finally. Clearly he was not the only one to feel relieved as he saw the hosts turned intendedly towards the fireplace.

* * *

A/N: I'm not sure if this was the longest wait for my fic so far, but it's certainly the longest wait without any warning and I'm sorry about that. I found out after my last update that I'd have to take an exam just two weeks later, which I failed miserably. For a while, I was very stressed out and there are still many things going on in my life it's not easy to find the time to write. I hadn't written a word for a whole month and am only slowly getting back into it.

I always enjoy writing the Malfoys the most that I have tried to incorporate their presence in the fic even when they are not physically present in a chapter because I miss them a lot, but of course it's best when I can write them for real (especially Scorpius, I'm biased I know). The bit about Albus learning how to fly is inspired by me finally learning how to ride a bike recently after… well, sometime after I've started working.

Thank you AxelsFire96, Ronnie Jane, HogwartsDreamer113 and Scorpiusisthebest for commenting. As always, I couldn't have done this without the wonderful support of my readers. Life is very busy but your comment would be my biggest motivation.


	56. Chapter 56

Scorpius shouted out the moment he saw Al materialised at his fireplace, "Welcome, Albus!" before rushing over to immediately give Albus a hug.

Albus looked very happy to receive his best friend for three seconds before abruptly letting go and yelling out in confusion. "Ow, what is that?"

Scorpius looked disappointed that the hug had been cut short but he turned towards his friend in concern to see what was wrong and caught sight of the pink Pygmy Puff trying to bite his best friend on his neck at the same time as the adults. Harry had not known that these little creatures could act so feisty and it appeared to him that Severus the Pygmy Puff was feeling quite possessive over his master. He took a step forward, intending to help his son but someone had beaten him to it.

Scorpius rushed forward to lift the fluffy creature up and scolded, "Bad Severus! Naughty Severus! Albus is my best friend and it's very wrong and completely unacceptable for you to bite my best friend! I won't give you any snack today so you will think about what you did wrong!"

The little creature appeared to not have understood his master but quickly freed himself from the boy's hold and rolled back up to his shoulder. Meanwhile, the two fathers and Albus exchanged a few looks while trying to suppress their urge to laugh until Al cracked first and burst out laughing, "Hmm… why am I feeling I am being scolded for acting _naughty_?"

Al had even imitated Scorpius' pitchy voice when pronouncing the last word. Harry was caught between wanting to laugh and openly cringe from second-hand embarrassment. He tried not to think about what Severus Snape would think if he could somehow witness the present scene of the young Malfoy scolding a cute _Pygmy Puff_ named after himself.

Scorpius appeared red-faced, "Albus, you're mean, and to think that I was just trying to rescue you… But I guess you're right, I should have given him a different name."

The boy sighed as he turned sideways to take a look at Severus, which was leaning contentedly on Lavender and was giving them his best doe-eyed look appearing completely ignorant that he had done anything wrong.

"At least his teeth don't even feel sharp at all so it was hardly painful, just… a bit uncomfortable."

"Maybe it was his plot all along that I wouldn't be able to discipline him without feeling I'm disciplining my best friend or Severus Snape so by taking their name, I would go easy on him." Scorpius wondered aloud.

Harry doubted the little fur-ball could plan something as elaborate as that but it did appear way more cunning than one would expect it to be and he doubted Scorpius could be harsh in his "punishment" anyway. He himself had been trying so hard not to laugh but he noticed that Draco's lips were tilting up in an unnatural smirk that he suspected the boy's father was experiencing the same struggle as he was.

He looked at a luxurious clock on the wall made of gold, dark green marble and likely hundreds of gems and saw that it was seven-thirty-five, this had already taken way longer than he had expected.

"What took you so long, Albus? Did you get everything?" He made sure to sound as casual as he could but it was genuinely surprising to him how long Albus had taken to arrive considering how excited he had been about the visit.

"Yeah, I got everything… I just happened to have to go to the toilet just when I was about to leave." Al mumbled.

"Oh, are you not feeling well?"

"I'm perfectly fine, dad."

Harry could tell that Al was feeling a bit annoyed to be fussed over in front of the Malfoys but he wanted to reply _I just wanted to make sure you're okay_. He resisted it as he felt like that might not be received well.

Scorpius seemed to notice the awkwardness that he asked a little bit too cheerfully, "Had you forgotten something, Albus? I thought you were _all packed and ready to go_ yesterday afternoon when you sent me your letter."

"Yeah, I did." His son seemed reluctant to tell even his friend what he had forgotten. "I hm… decided to work on my es-essay yesterday night so I took out my notebook. I got stuck halfway through so I was hoping you could help me with it but I forgot to put them back in."

 _An essay?_ This was so uncharacteristic of Al that Harry wondered if he had misheard.

"Oh, of course. Let me take a look!" Scorpius extended a hand toward Al, wanting to receive his friend's essay right here and now. The eager way Scorpius was reacting to an essay was reminding Harry strongly of Hermione.

Draco sighed, "Scorpius, I know you're very eager to help but we should at least let our guests have something to eat first." Draco's use of the plural _guests_ was not lost on Harry.

Something was bugging Harry though to realise that his son would rather ask for his friend's help _at a sleepover_ than his or Ginny's. It would be too much wishful thinking for him to ever expect Al to feel comfortable asking James for help but surely Al would know that his parents would be happy to help.

"Albus, are you sure you want to spend your visit working on your essay? You could have asked me or your mother for help."

Albus raised his eyebrow, "No offense but are you sure you or mum would be able to help me on my _history_ essay, dad?"

Harry had of course failed his History of Magic O.W.L while Ginny had fared slightly better by getting an Acceptable. He was quite confident that his wife, like he, had forgotten most, if not all of what she had learned on the subject. She was, however, an expert of "History of Quidditch" that she was very capable in reciting all the scores and results of the last ten British and Irish Quidditch Leagues and the last fifteen Quidditch World Cup and she absolutely took pride in that.

He could feel his cheeks warming as he reluctantly agreed, "I guess you're right… we won't be able to help you much on history. I hope it won't be too much trouble for Scorpius." He turned apologetically towards Scorpius.

"Of course not, Mr Potter, it would be my pleasure to help Albus with his essay." There was a sort of twinkles in Scorpius' eyes that it almost looked to Harry that the boy was being asked to fly on his Firebolt Supreme instead of reading his friend's essay.

"That's good. Albus, I hope you have a wonderful time. It's getting late so I should get going. Your mum will pick you up tomorrow evening."

A part of Harry really wanted to immediately turn towards the Floo to flee but of course it would be too rude to the Malfoys and as much as he was in a hurry, he did not want to risk jeopardising this delicate friendship that had taken him quite a while to build, so he took the time to nod towards Draco and therefore, received the exact reaction he had expected and wanted to avoid.

"You're going to work already? It's not even eight. Have you eaten anything, Potter?"

"Not yet but I'll grab a bite on my way. First day of work after a holiday is always crazy and chaotic I'd be lucky to be able to return home before midnight."

"Oh, but there's no need for you to buy it somewhere else, Mr Potter. You can easily grab something to eat here, breakfast is ready and we have all sorts of food. There is way too much for the three of us anyway." Scorpius gave him a very earnest look akin to Albus' puppy dog eyes on Christmas day that Harry knew immediately that he was defeated and all hope of returning home before midnight was completely lost by this point.

As Harry reluctantly followed his host to the dining room to have breakfast, he saw Scorpius struggling to pry the pink Pygmy Puff he was holding off his hand onto a house model almost half as tall as Albus and about half as big as Al's room, while Severus was trying equally hard to cling onto his master.

Harry had no idea how authentic the furnitures of the miniature house, which included pretty wooden tables and chairs, luxurious sofas and beds, mirrors, delicate wall clock, and chandeliers, were but the house was three-storey tall and there were well over ten windows per floor. This house, completed with a small "garden" with what looked like real living flowers shrunk to fit inside, might as well be the Malfoy Manor for Pygmy Puffs and the two little creatures could very well host a party for hundreds of their little friends in a house this big.

"Stop, Severus! I'm not taking you to breakfast. Lavender has been a good girl and has been well-behaved towards my guests, so she gets to come with us to breakfast. You've been naughty so you're grounded. I'll bring something for you afterwards."

Immediately after Scorpius had succeeded in getting rid of his clingy pet, the Pygmy Puff rolled off without a care in the world to enjoy the grandeur of his home that Harry strongly doubted that it would learn its lesson at all. It had been unexpectedly entertaining seeing the young Malfoy interacting with his new pets and he had tried hard to maintain a neutral expression for fear of embarrassing Scorpius. Al, on the other hand, was openly laughing again while they continued on their way to the Malfoys' dining room.

"Stop laughing at me, Albus, or, or... I won't rescue you next time." Harry could tell that the blonde boy was having fun despite feeling annoyed with his friend.

"Oh, so you're gonna let your Pygmy Puff attempting to bite open my artery?" There was an amused smirk on his son's face.

"Of course not! I mean, it's not like he could do that much damage…"

"True, but that doesn't mean I'd want my neck to be used as a chew toy."

"And I wouldn't let him!" The boy reacted immediately before realising his mistake, "That's not fair, you know I wouldn't just stand by and watch but you wouldn't stop laughing at me, you're supposed to be grateful for my help."

"Who said I'm not grateful? I'm incredibly grateful that you rescued me from your _naughty_ Pygmy Puff, Mr Malfoy."

"You don't sound too grateful, Albus…"

They were still bantering by the time they entered the dining room. Al had been getting along much better with his siblings lately but their interaction was still nowhere near as comfortable as this. Harry could not dare to hope that Albus could ever get this close with James and Lily but he hoped that in time, he would learn to trust and rely on his siblings again, especially because he was trying to cope with his nightmares and traumas from the incidents.

Back when he had first learned that Ginny had been pregnant again with Albus, Harry had felt so happy for themselves, but he had felt happier for James and Albus for having a brother so his children would always have each other. Ron and his brothers might have become brothers to him but acquired siblings would always be different from blood siblings.

Growing up as an orphan, he had wondered as a child if his life would have felt easier with a sibling. Having witnessed how great it had been for Ron and Ginny to have siblings they could always trust (well, with the exception of Percy) despite some obvious drawbacks like the constant comparison, he had known that he wanted at least two children when the time had come for him to start his own family.

Breakfast was a similar affair to the buffet on Christmas morning with a variety of breads, pastries, jams, cheese, fruits, eggs, hams, sausages and drinks, which was enough for ten people. Harry knew that the Malfoys could afford it and no doubt Draco had wanted everything to be perfect in front of his guests but he seriously hoped that they were not as wasteful as they appeared.

The food was incredibly appetising that Harry could hear his stomach grumble at the sight of the buffet that his face turned pink as a result. If Draco had heard it, he did not comment on it at all. Al had instantly made himself at home devouring the dishes while Scorpius carefully set his purple Pygmy Puff down next to him in front of a small dish placed on a wooden block covered by a napkin and immediately proceeded to pick out small pieces of food, like chunks of cheese, diced fruits and small pieces of bread for his pet.

Harry could not care less about table manners despite eating in front of Draco in this grand dining room when he knew that he was already running late for work. He took five minutes to eat a piece of toast, some sliced fruits, a bit of egg and top it off with a goblet of pumpkin juice while Draco was observing him out of the corner of his eye without attempting to make small talk with him.

"You're such a good and beautiful girl, Lavender. You don't go around biting my friend and you eat quietly without making a fuss. Mum would have loved you so much because you're in her favourite colour. If only you could teach Severus some manners..."

Albus rolled his eyes at the last bit.

By the time Harry finished his quick breakfast, Scorpius had only just started buttering a slice of toast for himself after feeding (as well as petting and baby-talking to) his beloved Pygmy Puff.

* * *

A/N: Sorry that this chapter is so short because I haven't been writing much again. I've been told I shouldn't feel pressured to update but I don't want to miss a month because I'm stubborn this way and I fear that if I go too easy on myself, I'd stop writing completely before I know it. More importantly, this fic has recently passed its second anniversary and its views have passed 50K. I wouldn't be here without your support and it meant more to me than usual to give you something before the end of the month even though this chapter isn't much.

I also want to update sooner than later because I'll continue to be busy for the next two months, especially because I'm taking an over 2-week-long trip from late March so there's a possibility that I won't be able to update until May and I wouldn't want you to think that I've abandoned the fic.

Thank you AxelsFire96, kahn1969, HogwartsDreamer113 and JennH for commenting. I appreciate all kinds of support but getting reviews just makes all the hard work feels much more worth it.

PS: Scorpius' Pygmy Puffs have gotten lives of their own and they demanded to be written.


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